Awkward Moments
by sarasponda
Summary: With a girl disguising herself as a boy on a confined vessel such as the Leviathan, you would think that many odd and awkward things could and would happen.  Unfortunately there aren't many in the books so I will be writing some of my own, enjoy!
1. Shower Scene

**I hate to say it, but the inspiration for this piece came from Disney's _Mulan_. I do love that movie and the scene where she tries to take a private bath and is rudely interrupted by the other soldiers is priceless.**

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><p>Living as a boy had its downfalls. One of the main ones that Deryn found especially annoying was how the men onboard the <em>Leviathan <em>had absolutely no concept of privacy. They changed their clothing, showered, farted, spitted and even pissed in front of one another like there was no tomorrow.

At first this had been very embarrassing and it still made Deryn blush whenever her crewmates stripped their clothes off in front of her, yet she was starting to get used to it. As long as she wasn't expected to waltz around half naked like the rest of them.

Therefore it was obvious to say that bathing was terribly difficult while onboard.

The ship had a few showers located near the aft end of the vessel which were used by everyone. Water was a valuable commodity so the shipwrights had equipped the _Leviathan _with only six individual shower stalls. They were small, drafty little things with only curtains between them to hide behind.

Due to the water shortage, showers had to be taken quickly. And with the scarce amount of free time they were given every day as well as there only being six stalls, the place was usually crowded with men waiting their turns to wash up.

In order to avoid the crowds, Deryn found it best to bathe during the wee hours of the morning. Most of the crew was asleep giving her plenty of privacy and warm water to use. She tried to make it there at least once a week and tonight was a fine enough time to do so.

It was almost 0200 hours when her lizard alarm woke her. Deryn patted the creature on the head to urge it back to sleep before collecting her clothes and towel and heading for the showers.

The night was cold and clear. She could see the stars glinting in the sky and her breath formed into clouds as it passed out of her nose.

_A good night for a hot shower! _She thought as she finally made it to the stalls and began to undress.

As always, there was no one else bathing at this early in the morning, so she left her clothes on one of the benches by the door and started the water running in the closest stall.

Like everything on the ship, the water was heated by the beastie's gastric chambers. It was a bit warmer than human body temperature and smelled like the steamy insides of the ship. Unlike the drinking water that was carried in barrels, this water was salty and slightly yellow in color.

It didn't matter a wee bit to Deryn. She happily jumped into the warm spray and began to scrub her skin with her military issued soap and sponge. It was so delightful that she even began humming a bit and would have continued to do so if she wasn't interrupted by a loud booming voice in German.

"_Ich denke, dass jemand dort_."

Which Deryn roughly translated to: "_I think someone is in there."_

_"__Wer sonst würde jetzt hier zu sein?" _

_ "Who else would be here now?" _

She froze. That last bit had been in Alek's voice. What the hell was he doing here at this time of night!

The voices continued to jabber away in unrecognizable German. She heard one of the men pull into the stall next to hers and turn on the water. Terrified, Deryn stood stock still and prayed that the men would shower and leave before even realizing that she was there.

Unfortunately, she had no such luck.

"Dylan? Is that you?" Alek said.

She didn't say anything. Perhaps if she didn't respond Alek would assume she was a different crew member and leave her alone.

"Dylan? What's the matter?"

She turned the water on stronger.

"I know you're in there. I can recognize your clothing on the benches."

_Damn it! _She shouldn't have left her clothes in such an obvious place.

"Ummm. Hello, Alek." She finally managed to say to him. He wasn't visible thanks to the curtain between them, but Deryn could make out his bare feet in the gap between the curtain and the floor. A closer look determined that he probably wasn't wearing pants above his bare ankles.

"You….you know, I really can't talk right now." She grumbled nervously, hoping that her voice was still low enough to be considered masculine.

Alek hesitated a moment before answering.

"Very well." He said softly and to her relief she noted his feet disappearing from view. She heard him open up another stall and turn the water on to start his own shower.

Deryn waited half a minute longer to make sure Alek was fully immersed in his shower before shutting the water off in her own and tiptoeing from behind the curtain. She didn't have time to fully dress herself with Alek still in the same room as her, so she snatched her towel and wrapped it tightly around her naked body before reaching for her clothes and attempting to exit. Yet as soon as she turned around, her outstretched arm knocked into something warn, wet and hairy.

It was Otto Klopp. Naked, Otto Klopp.

Thank God she was able to stop herself from screaming. She did, however, drop all her clothing on the ground.

"Guten tag, Mr. Sharp!" The man exclaimed. With some effort due to his large size, the mechanic leaned down to retrieve Deryn's clothes from the floor. She immediately averted her eyes, realizing all too quickly that she had seen far too much of Klopp.

"Uh…Thank you." She mumbled before grabbing her clothes back from him.

"You no get dressed?" Klopp asked her in broken English. His eyes were flickering up and down her towel wrapped form.

"No." She said, and without bothering to explain further, she tried to exit the room. This task proved to be impossible since Klopp did not move out of her way and she was not about to touch him to push him aside.  
>"Would you…?" She tried to motion him to scooch but he didn't understand her. Instead he stuck his hand in front of her face, clearly displaying a small bottle of soap.<p>

"Eh?" He asked her then tried to gesture to her to take the bottle.

"_He isn't interested, Klopp." _Another voice chimed in German. The stall that had been beside her opened to reveal the head and torso of Alek's other man, Bauer.

"_Nonsense!" _Klopp snorted. "_He just doesn't understand me."_

On the contrary, Deryn could understand their German fairly well, but she couldn't speak too well back to them. Nor did she want to speak with them right now anyways.

"Excuse me!" She said in English and reached out to the most decent spot on Klopp's body, his shoulder, and tried to push him out of her way. The man wouldn't budge a squick. In fact, he even stepped closer to her so that his large tummy was almost brushing against her side.

"You must try soap!" He insisted.

Deryn was about to puke when Alek opened up the curtain to his shower. Naturally her eyes strayed to his body, which was heavenly drenched in water that shimmered delightfully in the glowworm lamps and steam of the bathroom. She shouldn't have stared but blisters, he did look lovely like that.

"Sorry, Dylan." Alek laughed. "Klopp is very opposed to the military soap on this ship. He thinks he is doing you a great favor by offering up his….his….er…I suppose you'd call it a form of soap."

It took Deryn a second to register what he had said because she was too busy gawking at him. She instantly realized she was looking at things she shouldn't be and turned her blushing face away from Alek.

"Soap?" She asked Klopp. This time she actually focused on the small glass bottle in his hand. It was faintly pink in color and the bottle was shaped like a rose. The man opened it for her and a strong sugary scent shot into the air. Deryn sneezed.

"You love?" He asked.

No, she didn't love. It was disgusting. Like something her mother used to spray in the rubbish bins to mask the scent of rotting garbage.

Deryn covered her nose and shoved Klopp's outstretched arm out of her face. Surprised, the man looked slightly upset.

"I no understand! This best soap!" He shouted.

Alek and Bauer were doubling over in laughter.

"He purchased the bottle from a street vendor in Istanbul!" Alek was able to say between his giggles. "He insists that we use it and we keep telling him that he is using lady's soap."

Klopp was shaking his head with disapproval and crossing his arms.

"My skin soft!" He declared. He then pointed to the military bar of soap in Deryn's hand and made a very annoyed 'feh' sound.

"You don't have to listen to him, Dylan, the man is very stubborn." Alek said while giving Klopp an irritated glare.

Klopp seemed to finally understand that Deryn would not be using his stinky lady's soap and turned away from her toward another one of the showers.

Deryn was happy to see him go. She wrapped her towel closer to herself and continued on her way to the door.

"Why are you bathing so late at night?" Alek asked her, completely ruining her escape yet again.

"I could be asking you the same thing." She muttered to him.

Alek suddenly looked very ashamed.

"Volger doesn't approve of our using the ship's showers. We arranged to come here at a time while he was asleep."

Deryn frowned. She was in a hurry to leave. Alek was completely undressed still and she didn't know how long she could stand there without looking at him. Yet she was interested to know why Volger would care where Alek and his men bathed.

"He believes that the water is contaminated with Darwinist filth and that we'll become ill from using it."

Deryn rolled her eyes.

"That's ridiculous. The water that comes out of the beastie is cleaner than any lake or rain water. It's probably even purer than your nasty Clanker pipe water with all its lead and mercury content."

Surprisingly Alek nodded in agreement. "It also is warm. A lovely trait that we find greatly superior to the cold drinking water he insists we use instead."

Well, she already knew Volger was crazy and this just further proved her point. It also meant that Alek and his men would be sneaking out to bathe like her and that she had to be more careful in the future.

"He is an odd bird." Deryn said to describe the count.

"Indeed. Well, I must finish rinsing my hair, Mr. Sharp, if you don't mind." Alek gave her a quick grin before completely shutting the curtain around himself. Her face flushed again when she realized she hadn't even noticed that Alek had soap in his hair. She told herself that was because she had been trying hard not to focus on him, yet part of her wondered if she had just been focusing on something other than his hair.

Deryn shook her head quickly back and forth to rid her mind of dangerous thoughts. It was early in the morning and she needed to get back to her room before the sun started to rise and the crew started waking up. This whole event had been a very close call. It looked like she may have to take up Volger's idea of bathing in cold water in her room. At least that way she would never have to see Klopp naked again.


	2. Side Effects of Fencing

**IMPORTANT:**

**This one boarders strongly on the M rating. I didn't want to change the entire story to a different rating just because of one chapter, so I will warn you right now: this chapter has adult content. It isn't a Lemon Scene, but it is a bit close to that. So if that sort of thing freaks you out, by all means, don't read this chapter. If you are like me, the warning will make you want to read it even more.  
><strong>

**That said, this was super fun to write and I had to get it out of my head and into the doc manager. Enjoy!**

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><p>It had been almost two days since Alek had last seen Dylan. At first he thought the boy was avoiding him, but after asking around, he found that no one had seen him lately. He had questioned all of the crewmembers he knew and none of them had heard a thing from Dylan. All that was left was to ask the man in charge of Dylan's duties, the bosun.<p>

"Sharp?" Mr. Rigby said when Alek asked him for Dylan's whereabouts. "Been wondering how the lad's been doing myself. I haven't seen him since he hurt his back the other day. Told him to take it easy and have a few days off until he feels better. Knowing him he's probably hiding somewhere in the crevices of the ship, too embarrassed to tell anyone that he's injured."

Alek frowned and thanked the bosun for the information.

So Dylan had an injured back and was too ashamed to admit it to anyone except his commanding officer. Alek shook his head with a small grin. Only someone like Dylan Sharp would be so proud that he couldn't ask for medical attention.

He had checked Dylan's room more than once to see if he was there. Knocking and calling through the door had never gotten him anywhere, so this time Alek tried to open it without bothering to knock. It was locked but that had never been a problem. Darwinist locks were easy to pick with the correct screwdriver.

As he expected, Dylan was in the bedroom. He was not, however, lying in his bed. Instead the boy was face down on the floor, his arms and legs outstretched like a beached starfish.

"Are you alive, Mr. Sharp?" Alek asked jokingly.

The boy jumped in surprise from the sound of Alek's voice but soon winced in pain and stretched himself back out on his stomach.

"Go away! I'm fine!" He shouted.

"You've locked yourself in your room for a day and a half; I think you're far from fine." Alek closed the door behind him and sat down on the floor beside his friend.

Dylan looked terrible. The midshipman was usually the image of perfection. He kept his hair combed back smoothly, his boots laced evenly and every button and snap was accounted for. Even Alek didn't spend that much time on his appearance, and he grew up in a palace! Indeed, it was almost as if Dylan were trying to hide something beneath his flawless features.

Now that he was lying on the floor in his nightgown, Alek felt he was seeing what Dylan really looked like for the first time. Surprisingly, it was very refreshing.

The boy's hair was messy and unkempt, his shirt was wrinkled and Alek noted that he was only wearing one sock, leaving the other foot bare.

"I heard that you hurt your back. Is that why you're lying on the floor like this?" Alek asked him.

Dylan sighed and turned his face slowly to face Alek's.

"No, dummkopf, I always sleep on the ground just because I like to!" He quipped. "In fact, I like it so much that I haven't even bothered to move the blankets down from my bed."

Alek fought back the urge to laugh. This wasn't a funny event and Dylan was probably embarrassed enough without someone laughing at his misfortune.

"I know how you feel." Alek admitted. "I can think of several occasions in which I was in the same position."

The nasty expression on Dylan's face softened slightly.

"You?" He asked. "Really?"

"Yes. In fact, there were times I couldn't even turn my head I was in so much pain."

"What the hell did you do!"

Alek did laugh this time. "Fencing, actually, and by the way you look right now I could wager that you may have had a similar experience."

Dylan bit his lip and furrowed his eyebrows in shame.

"Yeah. It might have been something like that. I was just trying to practice a squick before I had to face off with you again."

Alek shrugged and moved a bit closer.

"I figured that might have been what happened. What with you having no experience and terrible posture, it's obvious that you would overextend yourself."

Dylan still didn't look thrilled so Alek continued to explain.

"You must make sure you stretch properly after practicing. If not, your muscles can become very stiff. This is especially the case in the beginning when you are standing still for long periods of time."

Dylan snarled.

"And you think I have time to sit around and stretch when I've got duties to perform!"

"Well, you certainly are making up for lost time now." Alek said. It probably wasn't the best thing to mention since it only sparked Dylan's temper more.

"You're not helping! Get out of my room!"

"I would but I'm afraid you will only get worse. Lucky for you, I know the perfect cure for your problem."

Dylan groaned. "Aye, and what might that be, more stretching? Or just standing and holding a broom handle for hours without moving?"

Alek ignored that comment.

"Back in Austria I had a professional masseur for years. And thanks to him, I've learned many things about proper muscle balance and skeletal alignment."

"A mooser? What the hell is that? Some sort of moose person?"

"A masseur. It's French for a person who gives massages."

"And is a 'moss sage' supposed to be French for something?"

Alek rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, I would think a Darwinist would know more about physical health treatments but apparently I was wrong. A massage is basically a deep tissue back rub."

"A WHAT?" Dylan's eyes suddenly widened dramatically and he tried to push away from Alek without writhing in pain.

"Calm down, Dylan, I won't hurt you. Now hold still. You may actually enjoy this a little."

He rolled up his sleeves and immediately started on Dylan's back before the boy injured himself further by trying to escape. It was easy to find the structure of Dylan's shoulder blades beneath his thin night shirt. Alek gently moved his fingers along the spine, loosening the tension in the skin with gentle scratches and strokes. Dylan lay frozen for a moment, but once Alek began to deepen the touch he almost melted into the floor. His arms and legs seemed to loosen and Alek heard his breath escape in a long hiss.

Alek could feel the muscles relaxing beneath his fingers, but he knew he hadn't found the root of the tension yet. There had to be a large knot somewhere that he needed to find. He searched the boy's back delicately with his fingertips, marveling at the smoothness of his skin beneath the light fabric. Eventually his thumbs settled on a tender spot below the neck and a bit to the right. Switching to his knuckles, Alek pressed harder into the knot and began to knead it like a piece of bread dough.

Suddenly Dylan moaned. It appeared he had been trying to hold it back for awhile because as soon as Alek hit the sweet spot Dylan's voice shot through the room like a stray bullet, sudden and loud.

It was a cry of extreme pleasure, high pitched and gasping and accompanied by a massive body shudder. It was also something that Alek was not expecting whatsoever.

Immediately he released his fingers from Dylan's flesh and jumped back into wall beside him.

This was odd. Way too odd. He had never heard anyone make a noise like _that _before. It had sent his heart rate spinning and his hands and face were flushed with heat.

On top of that, there was a rush of sensation between his legs. It was hot and hungry and Alek knew from the pressure against the seam line of his pants that this had gone way too far.

Dylan slowly lifted his head and faced Alek in annoyance.

"Did I say you could stop?" He growled.

Dylan was about to say something else when he must have noticed Alek's expression. He frowned for a moment in confusion which faded quickly. The boy was smart and it didn't take him long to figure out what had happened.

Dylan's face was turning redder than Alek had ever seen and his eyes darted dangerously down to Alek's waistline.

There was no hiding it anymore, and the way Dylan continued to stare was not improving the situation at all.

With the last inch of pride that Alek could muster, he rose from the floor, took a deep breath and quickly left the room and slammed the door behind him.

Trying not to contemplate on what had just happened, Alek dashed away as fast as he could.

There was no way he would be giving anyone a massage again soon.


	3. A Little Letter Confusion

**This one is for ** dxgevo,** who wanted a Varlow chappy! Thanks so much and I hope you like it! **

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><p>"You have a message, Dr. Barlow; shall I read it for you?" The man at the door commented. He was an older gentleman, perhaps even old enough to be her father. Nora guessed that he wasn't accustomed to women being aboard airships let alone reading their own mail.<p>

"That isn't necessary, sir, I can read it myself." She rose from her desk and received the envelope from his outstretched hand. Thankfully he didn't stay to chat and was soon gone from her room.

Written notes were rare on a ship equipped with message lizards. Nora was always pleasantly surprised by the effort of a handwritten letter. She was looking forward to reading the note until she opened it. It was nothing but a sentence or two from her husband. Most women might have swooned over the occasional love note from home, but to Nora they were merely an annoyance.

_Hello Dollface! _

_ Greetings from London. I've been horribly busy with work and haven't had time to write sooner. Business is going swimmingly despite the war. Speaking of swimming, I hope your flying fish is doing well. _

_ Cheers,_

_ Alan. _

She shouldn't have expected anything better. Alan had never been one for elaborate words. Still, he could have written something about the children or even bothered to let them write her a note. He couldn't even remember that the _Leviathan_ was a whale and not a fish.

But Nora was nothing if not a dutiful and loyal wife. She pulled out a pen and hastily wrote the necessary reply to her husband of three years.

_My Darling,_

_ The days are long and the nights are cold and lonely aboard this ship. If only you could share my bed for just one evening. _

_ Please send word back soon,_

_ Nora_

She grinned mischievously. After three years Nora knew that a nagging letter would reward her with nothing. She had to be forward and blunt when it came to getting what she wanted from her husband. Even if all she needed was information on the children's wellbeing, a slightly provocative note always swam miles over a drab one. There would be a response back from London in a matter of hours.

Smiling to herself she called for a message lizard.

"Mr. Sharp, please come to my office at once. I have a letter that needs to be delivered."

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><p>Deryn frowned at the sealed envelope in her hand. Couldn't Dr. Barlow get off her lazy pampered bum for a few minutes and walk down to the mail room herself? Deryn shook her head and tried to hold back a yawn but it escaped her lips all the same.<p>

"Tired, Mr. Sharp? I daresay you should be in bed at this hour." Said a man from behind her.

Deryn spun around to face Count Volger.

"Aye, sir." She said with annoyance. "But midshipman duties are called for even at this early in the morning."

Volger nodded and pointed to the letter in her hand.

"And what sort of letter is so important that it needs to be delivered at this time?" He asked.

_Clever boots never minds his own bloody business_. She thought.

Looking down at the note again, Deryn realized she had no clue who the letter was for. Dr. Barlow had explained that the letter was for someone significant, but Deryn had been so exhausted she hadn't paid attention to what the woman had said.

What Deryn could remember was that Dr. Barlow seemed especially angry with whoever would be retrieving the letter. It didn't have an address on it or a name. Deryn was supposed to write that information down herself.

However, how would she know the address of any of Dr. Barlow's boffin friends back home? Most likely the note was supposed to be given to someone on the ship, and who else would annoy the doctor more than the man Deryn was currently speaking to.

She smiled and nodded to Volger.

"I believe the message is for you, sir." She said. It really didn't matter to Deryn whether the letter was really for the count. She had other things to do besides babysitting the lady boffin's mail. Important things, like sleeping.

Volger didn't take the envelope right away and instead crossed his arms and glared at Deryn.

"And why would Miss. Barlow write me a note when she could humiliate me with one of those godless lizards."

Deryn sighed.

"I assure you, sir, I haven't the slightest idea."

His eyes narrowed but he did take the letter and open it. He read it quickly and Deryn hastily tried to walk away so she could go back to bed for a bit before morning duties. She was almost out of earshot when the man called to her.

"One moment, Mr. Sharp, I will be needing your assistance."

"Blisters, what for?"

As she walked back towards him she noticed a peculiar expression on the man's face. Was Count Volger blushing?

"You'll be sending the response note to Miss Barlow, of course." He grinned.

Deryn grumbled a curse under her breath. Apparently she would be getting no more sleep that morning.

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><p><strong>To be continued...mwa ha ha. <strong>


	4. A Little Letter Confusion pt 2

Count Volger had never been a man for romance. When your duties consisted of maintaining dignity and control of the future Austrian throne, you didn't have time for a wife. That and he never needed one. He may never have experienced the world of courting, but that didn't mean Volger lacked the ability to charm a woman. One could even argue that he excelled at it. Truly, if his career would have allowed it, Volger was certain he would have the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.

Looking back upon his life, Volger didn't regret anything. A man needed a wife like a whale needed….well…to fly.

Yet with circumstances being what they were, it appeared he would be needing his charms and dashing good looks to secure the companionship of a woman.

He smirked at himself in the mirror and adjusted his bowtie so that it was even. Licking the tips of his thumb and forefinger, Volger wet the corners of his eyebrows and moustache so that they curled in the appropriate manner.

"Good heavens, man, what are you wearing?" Came a squeal in German from the door. Volger couldn't help but smile when he turned to face his pupil.

"This, boy, is a tuxedo. Which I'm sure you are aware of."

"Yes, I knew that!" Aleksander grumbled. He was always one to state the obvious. "But _why_ are you wearing it? God's wounds, I didn't think you even had one in your luggage!"

"One must always come prepared, your highness." Volger explained while pulling his ivory comb from his front pocket. "Now I didn't call you here to chit chat. Hurry over to the desk and fetch the bottle of champagne."

"CHAMPAGNE! Where on Earth did you get that?"

"That is of no business to you. Just retrieve it for me. And while you're at it, change your outfit. That pilot's uniform is much too drab and dirty for what we will be doing."

"And may I ask what we will be doing, sir?"

"You may, but that doesn't mean I'm going to tell you. Yet."

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><p>Nora completed her book with a sigh and stood to return it to the bookshelf on the other end of her office. It appeared that another author had no advice on the bonding behaviors of the slow loris. The perspicacious loris may be different than its natural slow loris cousins, but it still should share some of the same traits. Yet she couldn't find anything on why a loris would bond to two male parents, i.e. Mr. Sharp and Aleksander, and not a male and a female.<p>

Curious, though it was, Nora was certain it wasn't the first time that such a situation had happened.

A knock on her door interrupted her from her thoughts.

"Come in." She answered as the doorway opened.

"Good evening, Dr. Barlow, I've brought you some refreshments."

Confused, Nora turned and was surprised to see Aleksander entering her room with a bottle of champagne and a plate of biscuits.

"Alek? This is unexpected. What brings you here and with such thoughtful morsels?"

The boy glared at her peevishly.

"I'm here to start your dinner for you. The Count apologizes that he is running late but he will be here shortly."

Count Volger? Was she supposed to be meeting with him?

"I'm sorry, I don't understand." She said.

Alek grumbled something under his breath that sounded like a curse. With more than a bit of annoyance he slammed the champagne and biscuits onto her desk and picked up a small piece of paper that had been buried amongst the other items on the table top.

"I believe this will answer that question. Volger sent it to you earlier today and it appears you never read it."

Intrigued, Nora took the small paper and was perplexed to discover it was a letter.

"He _wrote _me a note! How…kind of him. He could have just used the message lizards."

Alek only shrugged so Nora opened the letter without any further hesitation.

_Dearest Nora,_

_ I admit that your request took me with great surprise, however, I am honored by your proposal and I would be delighted to join you later tonight. Please accompany me to dinner this evening. _

_ Truly yours,_

_ Ernst Volger._

"Well, this is peculiar." She though out loud. "Since when does he address me by my first name?"

Alek only scowled.

"How should I know?" He finally answered.

"I wasn't asking you, dear. And you shouldn't scrunch up your face like that. It ruins your handsome features."

This comment only made Alek frown more. It completely clashed with his fine outfit of a gallant emperor's dress coat and formal slacks.

"Are we done here?" He said, a bit louder and brassier. "I have other things I'd rather be doing."

"By all means, I wasn't forcing you to stay." She gestured to the door and Alek hastily left.

This was all very odd. First there was the friendly note which Volger would never normally write, and then there was the champagne and biscuits. Nora didn't know how to feel about all of this.

She didn't have much time to sit and ponder about it, for soon there was another knock on the door. There wasn't a chance to get up and answer it, because Count Volger had already let himself in.

"My dear," He said, bowing deeply and taking her hand to kiss, "I'm delighted that you will be joining me tonight. I see Aleksander has already brought you the wine." He waltzed to the desk and began to open the bottle. "Foolish boy didn't bother to open it for you, I see. Well, you can only bring a horse to water…"

"Volger! May I ask what the meaning of this is?"

He beamed at her as the cork of the champagne popped.

"Why, I am only returning the favor that you requested." He poured a flute of champagne and handed it to her.

"And what favor may that be, might I ask?"

"Don't play coy with me, Nora. You know exactly why I'm here."

She didn't, but she didn't feel like arguing with him. If Volger suddenly had the urge to be nice to her, Nora wasn't about to stop him.

"I was going to have Aleksander bring us our food, however, now I am not so sure he will be retrieving it. I will get it myself in a few minutes, but first, why don't we get comfortable."

He handed her the champagne flute before pouring himself a glass and sitting, of all places, on her bed! Nora was about to protest but it was hard to fight with the man when he was acting so gentlemanly. Well, there was also the fact that he looked quite splendid tonight.

For some unknown reason Volger had chosen to don a full tuxedo with tails, a bowtie and even small golden cufflinks. Nora couldn't help blushing at the idea that the man may have dressed this nicely for her benefit.

"Would you be so kind as to sit with me?" He asked. She didn't answer him but when he reached for her hand and pulled her to the bed her body easily succumbed to his request.

"I know our lives are not nearly what they used to be when we were both on land. You being a Darwinist doctor and me being an Austrian Soldier. But times being as they are, we have to make do with what we have."

Nora's heart was aflutter and she wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying. Instead she watched the way his lips moved as he spoke and contemplated what it would be like to touch the moustache that quivered and curved with each of his words.

"Am I right, Nora?"

"Ummm. What? I beg your pardon, I didn't hear you."

"I was just commenting on how it was strange that you and I would have a partnership. I suppose it isn't often that a Darwinist and a Clanker become friends."

_Friend? _She thought. _Did he just associate me as his friend? _

She swallowed hard and cleared her throat.

"I don't find the companionship too odd. One only has to look as close as this ship to see that Clanker and Darwinist partnerships are becoming rather common. For example, Aleksander and Dylan are becoming very strong friends.

At this the Count snorted.

"The meager acquaintance between the midshipman and the prince is nothing but an alliance between boys. I'm talking about something bigger, something closer."

Nora was about to point out that the loris had bonded to both Alek and Dylan and how strange _that _was, but she was interrupted rudely when the Count suddenly wrapped his arm loosely around her shoulder.

"Would you agree?" He asked.

"Agree with what?" She said in a much higher voice than usual.

"That we have a strong relationship?"

"I would hardly…."

She didn't get a chance to finish because her lips were suddenly pressed against his mustached ones. It was a quick kiss that lasted only a mere five seconds before he pulled away. Still, it was enough to turn Nora's entire face and neck hot scarlet.

"Is there something wrong, Nora, you seem tense?"

"I WOULD THINK I SHOULD BE!" She snapped. Shoving her way out of his embrace, Nora rose and tossed her untouched champagne into his face. "What madness has overcome you that you felt the need to kiss me!"

Volger didn't have the grace to look shocked. Instead he only looked angry.

"So that's it then?" He asked standing to his full height so he could look down his nose at her. The liquor was pouring down his face in large drips but he didn't bother to wipe it away. "Was this all a ploy to trick me? This whole thing was just to make me look a fool?"

Nora put her hands on her hips and arched one eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

"The letter you sent me of course, Miss Barlow, unless I am mistaken. It was quite explicit on your need for my attention."

"Letter? I never sent you a letter!"

He narrowed his eyes at her for a moment and twitched his moustache.

"If it wasn't from you then who….." He suddenly went red with fury, "SHARP!"

"Excuse me?"

"That wretched excuse for a solider! I will rip his limbs out of their sockets and…" He began to walk to the door while pulling a handkerchief out to wipe his wet cheeks. She quickly barged in front of him before he left.

"Wait a moment, did you say that Mr. Sharp sent a letter from me to you?"

He was about to push past her but stopped.

"I did."

Nora planted her forehead in her palm.

"I think I understand what may have occurred. I did give a letter to midshipman Sharp this morning, but it wasn't for you. Originally the note was supposed to be delivered to my husband but Dylan must have given it to you by mistake."

Finally Volger's expression was able to manage something that looked like embarrassment.

"Did…did you just say…husband?" His face looked very purple.

"I did."

There was a pause and they stood in silence, staring at one another and wondering who would venture to speak next.

Nora couldn't take it anymore and eventually broke the quiet.

"I'm sorry, Volger, I suppose I should have told you sooner that I was wed. I also apologize that you received that letter. I'm actually quite ashamed that you read it. I don't normally talk so scandalously in my notes. That is, unless, I need a favor from Alan."

"And this Alan would be your husband."

She nodded.

Volger sighed and lifted a hand to his forehead so he could rub his temples with his thumb and forefinger.

"Well, coming from a man such as myself, let him know that he should be extremely complemented to have a woman such as you."

"Believe me, he doesn't see it that way."

"Come again?." Volger took his hand down so he could see her face.

"Let's just say that my husband doesn't always appreciate me as much as he should."

Volger crossed his arms.

"Please continue." He urged her.

"Alan is a clerk at a successful law firm. He loves his business and does well at it. However, he doesn't understand even the beginning steps of biology and he has no interest in anything I do. We have two sons but I never hear anything from them because Alan leaves their complete care with the nanny and doesn't consider it important for me to be updated on their wellbeing. Oh, and he's also terribly selfish and rude."

She realized she had been ranting and bit her lip.

"It sounds to me as though there is little to like about him."

She groaned and nodded.

"Then what convinced you to marry him in the first place?"

"My mother. The Barlows are a wealthy family with a very good reputation in society."

"I see." He said. And to his credit, the count seemed very understanding.

"I really am sorry, Volger."

"Please, call me Ernst." He took her hand one last time and raised it to his lips in a parting kiss. "For what it's worth, this has been a lovely evening. And if you will excuse me, I have some beatings to attend to."

"Beatings?"

"Yes. I believe a certain midshipman will be in need of a good smack." He bowed to her and walked to the door. "Goodnight, Nora."

"Goodnight, Ernst."

She heard a mumble from behind the door that sounded a touch like 'should've kissed her again, stupid barking count.'

Volger obviously didn't hear the voice because once he opened the door it was too late and he had stumbled to the deck on top of a bewildered looking Alek and an amused Dylan Sharp.

"YOU!" He snapped at the boys. "I should have known!"

"Aye!" Dylan said with a hint of a grin. "Well, this has been fun. Hope to see you soon, Dr. Barlow, Count." And before anyone could say 'midshipman' the boy was gone. Nora could hear the faint pattering of his footfalls in the distance. Volger didn't wait to scold Alek at all and instead chased after the young Scotsman in rage.

"I'll have your scrawny neck!" He screamed.

Alek remained on the ground where he had been trampled over. He was flushed in the face and Nora strode over to him and offered him her hand.

"This wasn't my idea!" Alek said with shame.

"I'm sure it wasn't, dear." She replied, shaking her head with a laugh.


	5. Shower Scene II

**This was a request by TheunicornfromMERP2** **who wanted another shower scene with Jaspert involved. How Deryn and Alek got on the _Minotaur_ I haven't a clue, but it still makes a lovely chapter.**

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><p>Alek had learned a few things while on board the <em>Minotaur<em>:

One: This particular airship was smaller and more intimate than the _Leviathan. _ The men all knew one another and everyone on the crew knew Alek.

Two: Unlike on other ships, the airmen aboard the_ Minotaur _were all Scotsmen. Large, loud, tough, vicious Scotsmen.

Three: Alek was definitely NOT Scottish and therefore NOT even remotely considered a crewmember.

Four: Dylan was automatically accepted as part of the crew, especially since his cousin was a lieutenant on the ship.

Five: Said cousin, Lieutenant Jaspert Sharp, was the upmost annoying and arrogant bastard that Alek had ever met.

Jaspert's favorite pastimes included spitting in Alek's food, jumping up out of nowhere and frightening him, wrestling Alek to the ground and the worst: mocking Alek's accent. Even though Jaspert wasn't anywhere near the largest or strongest man in the crew, he still held one of the highest spots amongst the ship's social ladder. All the men loved Jaspert Sharp. The witty, humorous boy was a bit of a hero amongst the airmen just because he was the ship clown.

Unfortunately, Alek was Jaspert's newest form of entertainment.

"Good evening, princy boy!" Jaspert cried when he saw Alek coming. Alek quickly made to turn around and avoid him.

"Come on, your highness, I'm only messing with you. Nothing but a little harmless teasing! Now get back over here I've been meaning to ask you a favor."

Alek didn't buy it for one moment. However, he did turn back towards Jaspert out of curiosity.

Currently, Jaspert was standing in front of the doorway to the ship's shower room. The _Minotaur_, being smaller than the _Leviathan, _only was equipped with three showers. Alek had been waiting until nightfall before heading for the showers to rinse off after a long day only to find that Jaspert was blocking his passage.

"I really don't have time for this, Lt. Sharp." Alek said. "I was hoping you would let me into the bathroom, but seeing that you are blocking the door, I suppose I will have to come back another time. Good night."

He made to leave again and Jaspert stopped him by admitting a long low whistle.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, Herr Aleksander. Actually, I really do need a favor from you. So if you were to waltz on over here and talk with me a bit, I may even let you use the showers!"

Alek had a horrible feeling that this was some sort of trick, yet he couldn't help coming over to speak to the other boy.

"That's better." Jaspert said as soon as Alek was in arm's length. "I'm only going to ask this once, so answer me truthfully. Have you got a girl back home?"

Bewildered, Alek didn't answer right away. But he did eventually respond truthfully like Jaspert asked.

"A girl? Mien Gott, no! In case you have forgotten, sir, I was escaping Austria. So even if I had the opportunity to court a lady back home I can assure you that she would no longer be able to contact me anyways."

Jaspert narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Slowly he looked Alek up and down like he was critiquing a horse for auction.

"Fair enough." He said. "Would you ever consider courting a girl that was below your status?"

Now it was time for Alek to narrow his eyes.

"Excuse me, but I do not see the point in asking me these questions. Since when does my romantic life interest you so much?"

"Just answer the god damn question, prince."

Alek sighed.

"If I am able to take my proper place as the Emperor of Austria Este, then I would be forced to wed a woman of equal nobility. However, seeing that this war is playing out in a way where that wouldn't happen, it would not matter who I decided to court."

The prospect had passed Alek's mind before. He had never fancied the girls he had met as possible candidates for marriage. But before the war, Alek had considered his wedding to be one of royal necessity, not love. Nowadays he was beginning to consider other options. Like leading a normal life with a woman he actually cared for.

"Well said." Jaspert commented. "I know I haven't made life easy for you lately."

"Easy for you to say." Alek mumbled.

"But I had my reasons. And let's just say you have passed my tests. Believe it or not, I've actually been growing to like you a wee bit."

He gave Alek a hard slap on the back causing the prince to drop the soap and towel he was holding.

"Even though you're a Clanker ninny, I still think you're a decent Clanker ninny."

"Ummmm….thanks." Alek said as he leaned down to pick up the things he had dropped. Was Jaspert suddenly complimenting him?

"At first I couldn't understand what Dylan sees in you, and sometimes I still don't, but I honor his decision. In fact, you should go talk to him now. He's taking a shower at the moment and he asked me to guard the door for him."

Alek scrunched up his brow in confusion.

"Guard the door?"

"It sounds stupid, but Dylan is a very prude lad."

Alek supposed it made sense. He had to admit he had never seen Dylan change his clothing in front of other people. And the midshipman always made a point to sleep with his shirt on even in the warmest weather.

"He won't be mad if I join him?" Alek asked.

"Of course not! He'd be delighted for the company."

Still thinking this was some sort of trick, Alek questioned Jaspert a little more.

"What makes you so sure Dylan is even in there?"

Jaspert rolled his eyes. "This is gonna be harder than I thought. Listen, Clanker. Dylan's not only my cousin but my best friend. I want you two to be as close as we are. That sounds a bit weird, but it's true. So get you're arse in there and talk to him. You aren't gonna get another chance with just the two of you in private."

This did sound weird but Jaspert had never sounded more sincere to Alek's ears.

"Fine." Alek said and began towards the shower room door.

"Oh, and one more thing. You be a chap and let me be your best man at the wedding, aye?"

"Huh?"

"Excellent. Cheers, mate. Good night." Jaspert saluted him loosely and left.

The steam of the showers and the sound of water running were proof that Jaspert wasn't kidding about someone being inside. Alek could hear the faint sound of humming from the furthest stall and from the look of the clothing outside the curtain, he assumed it was Dylan.

"Good evening, Dylan." Alek bellowed over the running water. There was a small yelp from the shower and the sound of something dropping on the ground.

"Barking spiders! Who is that!"

"It's only me." He began to remove his shirt and trousers as he waited for Dylan to respond.

"Blisters, Alek! How the hell did you get in here?"

"Jaspert let me in. He's acting very strangely." Alek said as he removed the remainder of his clothes. "I think he's trying to play some sort of practical joke on me. It's rather bothersome."

A small face peered out from behind Dylan's shower curtain. The midshipman was red from the hot water and his hair was full of soap. Alek gave him a large friendly smile and moved to turn on the water of his own stall.

"What do you think, Dylan?" He asked.

Dylan didn't seem to have heard him because he was too busy staring at Alek. Apparently he wasn't used to showering with other people. To Alek it was nothing. If you had to spend several weeks in a stormwalker with four other men, you got over polite practicalities rather quickly.

"I'm getting in the shower now." Alek said to break Dylan's concentration. The other boy's face turned even redder.

"OH! Sorry!" He quickly pulled his head back into the stall where Alek couldn't see him.

Alek laughed a little at his awkward friend and closed the curtain to his stall. It was delightfully warm and he was very thankful that the ship had a running water system, even if it did smell like the inside of an animal.

"As I was saying, I believe your cousin has changed somehow. He declared he had actually taken a liking to me."

"That's swell. Nice chatting with you. I have to go.

There was a brief pause while Dylan shut off the water.

"Wait, you don't have to leave!" Alek protested. He saw a blur of movement as Dylan retrieved his clothing quickly and changed behind the curtain of his shower.

"Change of plans, sorry." Dylan announced. A second later he was exiting the room with his shirt loosely on and his pants unbuttoned.

"But, I was supposed to talk to you." Alek said. It was no use, Dylan had already left.

Alek gave a frustrated sigh and continued with his shower. He hoped he hadn't hurt Dylan's feelings.

Afterwards Alek walked back to his bedroom by himself, wondering what could have happened to the midshipman. He entered his room and tossed the wet towel aside before starting towards the bed, but was interrupted when a tall blond figure approached him.

"So, I hope all went well with your bath."

"Jaspert! Wha…what are you doing in here?"

Jaspert shrugged. "Just waiting for you to get back. I'm dying to hear what you think!"

"Did you break into my room? How dare you!"

"That doesn't matter. What did you say to Deryn?"

"I think it matters quite a bit, actually! I'll have you know that…."

"Oh pipe down, Clanker, I didn't touch any of your things. Now go on. Did you two hit it off?"

Alek crossed his arms and made a harrumph sound. "I beg your pardon?"

"What did she say when you figured it out? Did she confess her love to you? I wish I could have stayed and seen it happen, but she would have beaten me black and blue. She probably still will, but this way it doesn't look as bad."

"What in the heavens are you talking about? Someone is confessing their love to me? Are you mad?"

Jaspert furrowed his brow and bit his lip.

"Surely you must have figured it out." He said. "Seriously, Clanker, you aren't that thick, are you?"

Alek stomped his foot angrily and pointed at the door.

"Get out of my room! You aren't making a bit of sense!"

But Jaspert didn't budge.

"You really don't know. I guess I'll have to tell you straight then, although it would have been a hoot if you figured it out the old fashioned way."

He shook his head with a sigh and then, to Alek's great annoyance, he sat on the bed.

"Dylan is a girl."

Alek rolled his eyes.

"I'm not believing that for a moment. I knew you were going to play some sort of joke on me!"

Yet Jaspert looked incredibly serious. His face was straight and his eyes were strangely focused.

"I'm not joking around, Alek, she's a girl. Her real name's Deryn and she disguised herself as a boy so she could get in the service."

"That's ridiculous!" Alek cried. Jaspert gave him a mischievous grin.

"Think about it, Clanker. When was the last time you saw Dylan change his clothes? How about shaving? He barely has a hair on his chin. Now you just took a shower with him, did you notice anything strange?"

Yes, now that Jaspert brought it up the way Dylan behaved was very strange.

"But….but…that's absurd!"

"That's Deryn. She's a little off her rocker, always has been. Doesn't mean I don't love her or anything. She is my kid sister."

"Your _sister_!"

"Aye. The Airforce knows I don't have any brothers so we told'em that she was my cousin. Worked rather well actually. I'm surprised no one has figured it out yet."

A queasy sensation filled the lower part of Alek's stomach. Dylan was a girl! It made sense, actually. The boy had a very feminine build. Alek was a little ashamed he hadn't noticed earlier.

"Wait a minute. What sort of brother are you? She asked you to guard the bathroom door and you purposefully let me in!"

Jaspert laughed. "The girl's head over heels in love with you. I couldn't just stand by and watch her moon over you without you even noticing. The war'll be ending soon and if she never told you her secret, she'd probably never see you again. I couldn't call myself a good brother if I didn't nip this situation in the bud and get the ball rolling, so to say."

Alek shuddered. A thought occurred to him that made his face flush.

"But I….I wasn't wearing anything! Just then, in the shower! God's wounds…."

Jaspert erupted into a fit of giggles.

"It's not the end of the world." He finally spoke. "Deryn may have gotten an eyeful, but that could be considered a good thing."

Alek shook his head in disbelief.

"You really are a terrible brother."

"Thanks." Jaspert said, standing and giving Alek a little bow. "Anyways, it's getting late. I should be getting to bed. Take care, Alek, and be good to my sister. You two really do make a cute couple."

_Couple?_ Alek thought as Jaspert took his leave. _What on Earth has he gotten me into?  
><em>

Alek gave one last sigh before collapsing on the bed and trying to fall asleep.


	6. Sharply Dressed

**Okay, this one is pure crack. Ever wonder what happened while Deryn was at the tailor shop in Istanbul? Let's read and find out….**

"Aya!" The tailor drops his measuring tape and shakes his head. It's at this time Deryn figures she's been found out.

It was bound to happen soon. She just hopes she can convince the man to keep his mouth shut. He's Turkish, of course, meaning his English isn't very good; however, his German is almost perfect. Perfect enough to get her into heaps of trouble. Alek and his men are just behind the wall in the other room, waiting their turns with the tailor.

"How many years you have?" The man asks. He's a plump fellow that barely comes up to her shoulder. Meanwhile, she is standing on a stool as he measures every inch of her with his fingers and sharp eyes.

"Ummm… I'm sixteen." She fumbles. It wasn't the question she had been expecting.

He drops his hands and puts them on his hips while scowling at her.

"You lie." He says. "I ask again, how many years have you?"

"Fourteen, I'm fourteen."

The man tutters and continues his work.

"Very much too young. You should be home learning make cooking for future husband."

She doesn't like the sound of that. She's paying this man to make her a suit, not give her advice on her marital status.

"Excuse me! I'm a boy!"

He rolls his eyes. "You are girl. It is bizarre case, but not something I never see before. Actually, I know someone very much like you! I have idea!"

His expression suddenly changes to one of sheer delight.

"SASHA!" He shouts loudly into the depths of the shop. "SASHA, Come quickly! I have someone you need meet!"

There is a clacking sound of heels on wood above their heads and Deryn hears someone descending a staircase in the back. Soon, a slender girl appears and stands across from the tailor. She has long straight black hair, big black eyes and perfectly tanned skin. Deryn also notices that she is wearing a very stylish dress that falls daringly above her knee.

"What do you want?" The girl asks.

"You meet this girl! She like you."

The black haired girl frowns at Deryn and looks her up and down.

"You're a girl?"

"Aye." Deryn says with embarrassment. There's no use trying to hide it any more from these people.

"Your did an excellent job. I would never have thought you were female."

Deryn swallows. "ummm… thanks, I suppose."

"Come now!" The man pulls Deryn off of the stool by the arm and shoves her toward the other girl. "You two should go get coffee, my treat!"

Bewildered, Deryn struggles to pull away from the man but he won't let go of her until he has her standing next to the other girl.

"Father, this is ridiculous." The dark haired girl grumbles. "You can't match me up with a _woman_!"

The tailor shakes his head. "What am I do with you! If I can no have grandchildren, shop will be lost from family!"

The girl curses, causing her father start shouting in Turkish. This, in turn, only instigates the daughter to start shouting as well. Deryn covers her ears and watches them fight.

"What in God's name is going on in here!" Someone shouts from the door. Alek is leaning into the room with a very confused looking Bauer and Klopp behind him. The three of them are cramped into the narrow doorway like they have been watching the event for a while.

"My apologies." The tailor shakes his head and rubs his temples with his forefingers. "I try to find wife for my son, and I think I find perfect one, but he tells me again he does no like women."

"Beg your pardon?" Alek says. He looks terribly confused and Deryn can't blame him. She's a bit bewildered by the situation as well.

"My son, Sasha." The tailor gestures to the slender dark haired woman. "He makes dresses for him to wear and grows hair and puts on make up like lady."

Suddenly Deryn's stomach turns sour. Looking the girl over again she notices a few things she didn't see before. For a young girl, Sasha is very tall, even more so than Deryn. She has muscular upper arms, barely any hips, a small bust and a large Adam's apple at her throat.

"Barking spiders! You're a boy!"

Sasha sighs and shakes her head. "I prefer to be considered a girl."

At this, the tailor gives a mournful cry and looks like he's about to sob.

"You are my only son!" He shouts frantically. "Why no you find nice girl and get married like other boys your age! I even find you girl that look like boy! Is not that what you want?"

Sasha narrows her eyes. "You can't just except me for who I am! You're terrible, father, I hate you!" And with that, she turns around and stomps back up the stairs that lead to the floor above the shop.

"Aya!" The tailor groans. "God forbid you never have sons!" He then follows Sasha upstairs without another word to Deryn and the others.

"What on Earth was that all about?" Alek asks.

Deryn nearly faints with relief. Blisters that was close. If they had talked about any of it for longer, her secret would have been out in the open like a newly released wasp from a jar.

"Haven't a clue." She says to him. "But I think we better find a new tailor. He looks like he won't be coming back soon."

And they did find a new tailor, and this time Deryn made sure he didn't have any sons.


	7. A Shared Bedroom

**YAY NEW CHAPTER! Sorry it's been forever. I'll be faster at updating next time. As always, I look forward to your reviews and prompts are lovely :) **

**By popular demand I have added Newkirk to this chapter. r&r please! **

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><p>After years of tutoring in multiple subjects, Alek could be considered an expert in countless areas. He could speak in half a dozen languages, pilot a stormwalker, fence better than most men twice his age and fix the engineering of Clanker and Darwinist aeronautics alike. Yet the one thing that his tutors had failed to instruct him in was the act of simple courting rituals. He had just begun a relationship with Deryn Sharp nearly two weeks ago, and it felt like he was jumping new hurdles he had never dreamed to exist.<p>

For example, he assumed that women appreciated it when you brought them flowers. However, flowers were hard to come by on an airship so Alek replaced that idea with a bouquet of cauliflower flourettes.

"The cook was going to throw them away." He had explained to Deryn. "I thought it was sort of a waste so I brought them to you instead."

His effort had been awarded with a slammed door in the face and a cauliflower blossom shoved in his mouth.

Other attempts to acquire Deryn's affection had failed miserably. She hated poetry (well, at least the poetry he wrote), she despised jewelry because it was daft and girly, and when he had attempted to bring her Volger's imported French wine she had laughed at him. Everything he tried seemed to make it worse. Especially the cauliflower.

This time Alek had given up on gimmicks. He had decided to go to Deryn's room directly, skip the fancy gifts and apologize to her about his poor choice in flower arrangements.

It was later in the evening and he assumed she was getting ready for bed. Newkirk would be preparing for sleep as well so Alek would have to make the encounter brief. A short conversation would suffice enough until morning.

Of course his plan was much easier to think out than to perform. The journey from his cabin to the middies' quarters was short and painful. Too quickly he was in front of her bedroom door trying to swallow enough courage to knock. He never got a chance to since she opened the door a second later.

"Oh…Hello, Alek." She stammered when she realized he was there. "Wasn't expecting you. Something wrong?"

She looked honestly concerned, and probably for good reason. He was shaking and sweating with nerves.

"Nothing. Everything is perfectly fine. I just came….I came to speak with you." He mumbled to his feet.

She still looked worried though and quickly yanked him into the room, slamming the door loudly behind them.

"What happened?"

"As I said, nothing's wrong. I just needed to talk to you about…well….about the gifts I've been giving you."

She snorted and raised one eyebrow.

"You mean the vegetables and that hideous necklace you gave me?"

"For your information, I _made_ that necklace!"

"Oh aye, out of barking machine parts and washers. The thing looked like the inside of a tackle box."

Alek's nerves quickly shifted to anger. He crossed his arms and scrunched up his forehead.

"That necklace took me almost five hours to make! You should have…."

But he had to stop speaking because she had started kissing him.

They had shared a few kisses since their first but no more than four or five. Alek didn't count the one in the rain as a full kiss since he had been practically unconscious at the time with a serious head wound. Their other encounters were always an innocent peck on the lips goodnight when they could steel the chance. But this time things were going much farther than before.

She had gently eased her hands down his back and then down a bit further and Alek couldn't help but let his own hands do some exploring. Soon she had pushed him onto her bed and pinned him down with her bodyweight. The kissing was getting deeper and his head was getting foggy before Alek could clearly figure out what had happened. He was kissing the girl he loved…..on a bed.

"GOD'S WOUNDS, STOP!"

She had the grace to blush but only while laughing at him.

"I'm sorry, but you're such a cutie when you get all mad like that."

"A _cutie_? Disgusting!" He pulled away from her. "Besides, you can't just grab me like that anytime the mood hits you. Give me some sort of warning next time! We don't have the privilege to be so…. bold! We could be seen!" The idea sent shivers through him and he suddenly remembered where he was: in Deryn's room. In Deryn's _shared _room.

A cough from the opposite side of the bedroom verified Alek's fears. Deryn's smirk transformed to a look of utter terror. Alek slowly pulled his eyes from her face and turned to direction of the cough.

Newkirk was in his bed, his covers pulled up to his chin and his eyes wide in disbelief. Alek watched as the boy's mouth opened and closed in the exact representation of a beached fish.

Thankfully, Deryn spoke first.

"Newkirk!" She said, finally pulling herself off of Alek and onto the floor. "Barking spiders, how long have you been there! Did you…."

"I saw everything." Newkirk responded in a whisper.

"But you….I thought you were going topside to help with the glowworm fiasco."

Alek remembered that all the glowworms topside had mysteriously stopped working yesterday and that the entire ship had been waiting till nightfall to investigate.

"Aye, like two hours ago!" Newkirk shouted. "I came back to go to bed early, but apparently I won't be getting any sleep thanks to you creeps!" He threw the blankets off of himself and dashed to the door.

"Wait, Newkirk, I can explain!" Deryn called after him but the middie had already left with a dramatic door slam and loud footfalls in the hallway.

She stared at the door sadly for a moment then dropped her head in her hand.

"Blisters, I could've sworn he was gone. He usually snores like a banshee when he's abed."

Alek shook his head and hopped off of the bed.

"What are you going to say to him?" He asked.

"I'll tell him the truth, I suppose. The poor bloke deserves that as much. We probably scared him off speaking to us forever though."

Alek sighed and put a hand on Deryn's shoulder.

"You think he'll tell anyone else what he saw?"

"Doubtful." She shrugged. "They would only call him sick minded and laugh at him. No one would believe _that_ story." .

Alek sighed.

"Still, we need to be more cautious. As I said before, you need to give me a proper warning before you do any of that again."

"Aye?" She grinned at him mischievously. "And what would a warning look like?"

"Ummm… well, I hadn't thought about…."

She suddenly gave his rear end a smack.

"Is that warning enough, your highness?"

He would have shouted at her but he was suddenly too busy kissing her.


	8. In Richard's Opinion

**I decided to continue the last chapter. Since we never learn Newkirk's first name and made one up for him that I thought suited him.  
><strong>

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><p>Richard had been beginning to enjoy his life on the flying whale. Climbing topside was still terrifying and the beasties would never be acceptable. Even so, he was finally starting to feel like part of the crew. The other men knew his name and addressed him with respect. There was something strangely heroic about being called "Mr. Newkirk" instead of Ricky or Richie. He also had begun to make friends onboard the ship. He would have easily considered Dylan a friend, perhaps one of his closest friends. Dylan may have always been closer to Alek, the Prince, but that had never made Newkirk like the other middie less. Little did he know that Alek and Dylan were much closer now. Too close for a normal, healthy friendship.<p>

An image of the boys entwined together, their bodies tangled between the sheets of Dylan's bed as they kiss floated into Richard's mind. He coughed and gagged for the hundredth time, clutching the rail with white knuckles and threatening to toss his body overboard after the vomit he had spit up a moment before. The vision of it was stamped forever in his corneas. What could he do to banish such sinful and disgusting scenes from his mind?

"Newkirk?" Said a voice from behind him. He quickly turned around to face the speaker. Dylan was nearly ten feet away which was still too close in Richard's opinion.

"Stay away from me!" He yelped. "Don't come any closer, you devil!"

Dylan rolled his eyes. "Calm down, you ninny. If you let me explain…"

"NO!" Newkirk backed himself into the rail so he was still facing Sharp but at as much distance as possible. "I will not let you fill my mind with your sinful filth! Stay away from me!"

Dylan, however, did not look at all threatened by Richard's screams. He was actually stepping closer to him.

"Listen, Newkirk, I'm really sorry that we frightened you. But there's something I need to tell you so that you'll understand."

Obviously just speaking to Dylan wasn't going to convince the boy to leave. Richard had to think of something boulder and more physically threatening to scare him away. He puffed up his chest, flexed his arms, puckered his lips and spit a mouthful of saliva at Dylan's face. Yet Richard had never been a strong spitter so the spittle just landed a mere foot and a half away from him as a small blob of wetness on the ship's deck.

Dylan snorted. "Trying to spit at me, aye? Wow, you really are a brave one, Newkirk."

"SHUTUP!" Richard shouted. He shoved his hand foreword and pointed directly at Dylan's face. "My Mum warned me about sinners like you! You heretics that sleep with other men! God is ashamed of your actions Dylan! I hope you know that you're going to hell!"

Instead of looking at all ashamed Dylan bent over in laughter.

"You've got to be kidding me!" The other boy wiped away a tear after he could catch a breath from the laughing. "The monkey luddite is a Bible Hugger."

Furious, Richard mouthed a curse and threw himself toward the other boy.

Yes, he was a Christian. Richard Newkirk grew up in a good town with a good family. He was always a good boy who went to church every Sunday. He said grace before every meal, he counted his blessings, he never used the Lord's name in vain and he always gave his spare change to the beggars on the street. _He also loved kittens and baby bunnies and liked to knit with his grandmother. But you didn't need to know that. _

Richard Newkirk was a good boy who would grow up to be a good man. He couldn't stand around and let the Dylan Sharps of the world ruin their futures.

Suddenly he was on top of the other boy and had shoved him to the ground by the shoulders.

"DON'T DO THIS, DYLAN!" He screamed in his face, shaking his friend hard by the shoulders. "I can't let you burn in hell!"

"NEWKIRK! GET OFF OF ME!"

"You need to stop your heresies now so you can be forgiven!"

"I'm serious, GET OFF OF ME!"

"Not until you repent."

"RICHARD, YOU'RE CRUSHING ME!"

Frankly Richard had never noticed how much bulkier he was than Dylan. The boy was very skinny. The only fat on him was in the pectorals on his chest. It was something he would never have noticed until now with his hand up against the boy's heart. Surprisingly, the lad was rather squishy and filled out in that specific area.

A bizarre idea ran through his mind and he wondered if a woman would have similar anatomy.

Yes…..a woman would have very similar anatomy.

Crap.

Newkirk leapt off of Dylan in an instant.

"YOU!" He pointed dramatically at the midshipman's chest. "YOU'RE A…"

"Well, I tried to tell you decently but of course you had to screw it up, dummkopf." _SHE _brushed herself off and stood. "I guess I should have told you sooner, but I never thought it would be a problem."

"But why?"

Dylan seemed surprisingly calm. She shrugged and walked to him, offering him her hand to help him stand.

"I wanted to fly." She said simply. "And they don't let girls into the service much, in case you didn't notice."

Richard shook his head. "I guess I never thought of it that way."

"You wouldn't need to. You hate flying."

They both laughed then.

"Say Dylan."

"It's Deryn actually."

"Deryn, right, does Alek know?"

She scowled and smacked his head.

"Blisters, Newkirk, are you daft? Of course Alek knows. You think I'd be snogging his face off if he thought I was a chap?"

"OUCH! Calm down, I was just making sure." He smiled at his friend. "And I'm glad you're a girl. That way I know that your soul is not in mortal danger."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes again.

"You're a loon." She began to leave.

"Oh, and Deryn, just remember that intercourse before marriage is also a sin."

Her face went pink and she was almost about to smack him again but stopped when she thought of something better.

"Oh, aye!" She laughed. "And grabbing my diddies while pushing me on the ground isn't a sin?"

He gulped and ran before she hit him again.


	9. A Lagoon Afternoon

**As requested, this is the swimming chapter for _Knight Mistress_. Although it isn't your exact request. This one takes place right after the Behemoth, so Alek doesn't know Deryn is a girl. **

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><p>Not for the first time Deryn wished she was born male. Men were allowed to rip their clothing off and jump, buck naked, into the lagoon while she had to stay back and watch. It was scorching outside. The boffins claimed it was approaching 100 degrees so the captain had ordered a necessary respite for the beasties and the crew. They had docked the airship near a deep lagoon on the outskirts of a Turkish village where most of the men had taken the opportunity to go swimming. Deryn, unfortunately, was unable to participate in such activities.<p>

Instead she found a pier beneath a shady willow tree where she could dunk her sweaty feet into the water while still remaining fully dressed. It wasn't nearly as nice as swimming, but she wouldn't dare remove any of her clothes and the men would think her strange if she went into the water while wearing her uniform. So she had to remain as she was; hot, miserable and annoyed with nothing but some shade and a canteen of stagnant drinking water to fight off the heat. There wasn't even a breeze to help relieve her from the swampy weather.

"Dylan, are you ill?" Said someone from behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know it was Alek. She grumbled to herself that she should have found a better hiding spot.

"Go away, I'm fine." She said to him before taking a long swig from her canteen.

Alek didn't listen though and was soon standing right beside her, naked as the day he was born. She spit out the mouthful of water once she noticed him there. He must have just stopped swimming because his skin and hair were shimmering with droplets as he moved to sit beside her.

"You don't look fine." He said with concern.

Deryn managed to pull her gaze away from his muscular chest so she was looking at his face.

"What makes you say that?" She frowned.

Alek's worried eyes scanned her slowly.

"Not even you can deny that the heat is atrocious." He began. "It isn't good for your health."

He had a point. She probably looked terrible. Her hair was damp with sweat, her skin was red and blotchy and she felt dizzy and a bit nauseous.

"I'm fine." She stated again and took another sip of water. It was warm on her tongue from sitting out so long.

Alek crossed his arms and scowled at her. "Would it be so difficult for you to jump in the water like the rest of us?" He suggested.

There it was. The comment she had been dreading. Now all she needed was a good excuse to counter his request.

"I….I can't." Looking at Alek was too distracting so she started fumbling with the strap that held the lid of the canteen in place. "Ummm….I can't swim."

There was a long pause and for a moment and she thought he hadn't heard her. She tilted her head ever so slightly to see him better without appearing too strange.

He was gazing at her with amusement, one eyebrow arched and a small smirk on his lips.

"Can't swim?" He snorted. "So that entire fiasco with the Behemoth and the way you swam the channel to release metal eating oysters to destroy the German nets was all a lie."

He had her there.

"Well…..no! I had a breathing apparatus on. But without it I can't swim a foot! Honest!"

It was such a lie. She was one of the best swimmers in her age group. Back home, she could outswim all the girls in school and more than half of the boys. Yet for some reason Alek seemed to be starting to believe her.

"I suppose that makes sense. Either that or you're just afraid of the water." He stood then, and Deryn quickly turned away before she saw too much of him again. "I'll leave you alone then. Just make sure to drink plenty of water."

"Aye, will do!" She said with relief as he turned away. To prove him right she drained the rest of the canteen in one gulp. A moment passed before she figured she should refill the small metal bottle. Alek had left the pier by then so she took her time standing up. There was fresh drinking water back by the _Leviathan_. She would need to walk over there, but right now she was feeling very lightheaded and stood still for a moment with a hand to her forehead as she waited for her eyesight to clear.

An instant later there was a strong shove against her shoulders and Deryn fell belly first into the lagoon.

The cool water that surrounded her body instantly sharpened her senses. It was an amazing relief and her head was suddenly making up for the hours of fogginess from sitting on the dock. She was about to break the surface to catch her breath when she heard the distinct tinkling sound of Alek laughing from the pier.

_That bum rag! _She thought_ He just pushed me in even though I told him I couldn't swim!_

She was sinking fast to the bottom of the lagoon but her anger was too strong to swim to the surface. _What if I drowned thanks to his stupidness? Then he wouldn't be laughing so hard._

The idea was like a delicious piece of chocolate; she couldn't get enough of it. Perhaps she would have a little fun with Alek. If he thought he had in fact drowned her then he wouldn't be so eager to push her anymore. Plus he wouldn't make fun of her for lying to him about not being able to swim.

Pleased with her plan, Deryn allowed herself to sink even deeper into the murky water. She had plenty of breath left and the water got colder the deeper she went. It was almost like the lagoon supported her prank on the prince.

In the distance she thought she heard someone screaming for help before a large splash erupted above her. It wasn't long before a pair of strong arms had encircled her waist and started pulling her back up to the sunlight above the water. The pressure of his bare chest against her was dangerously pleasant, so Deryn didn't dare move as Alek pulled her to the rocky shore of the lagoon. Even then she was too stubborn to open her eyes or lift her head. _Let him worry a little longer._ She thought.

"Dylan!" He screamed frantically, shaking her shoulders and slapping her face. "Dylan, wake up!" And without any further warning she suddenly felt a delicate softness against her lips. It took a second to register that Alek was kissing her. But it was a very odd kiss. He also had grabbed her nose between his fingers and plugged it shut while blowing warm air from his lungs into her mouth.

Terrified, Deryn opened her eyes and shoved him off of her in one smooth movement.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" She yelped.

He looked completely flabbergasted and adorable sitting there, drenched in water and almost to tears with fear.

"You're alive!" He screamed and she was in his arms again for a brief moment. Very brief, because he instantly pushed away from her again a second later. "Dylan, were you really drowning?"

Her anger from before was swiftly replaced with shame. The look he was giving her was one of such hurt, Deryn immediately felt like she had been stabbed in the gut.

"No, Alek, I wasn't drowning." She admitted fully.

He didn't say anything to her, only stared blankly. It would have been so much better if he yelled at her, or even hit her.

It also didn't help that they were surrounded by nearly a dozen naked crew members who must have appeared when Alek had screamed for help. Some of them were mumbling to one another while others were laughing to themselves and a few were giving Deryn angry looks. She was about to apologize to them all when she realized that Alek had vanished. A quick look around saw him retrieving his clothes from a nearby tree and slipping his pants on before returning to the ship.

Drenched, miserable and ashamed, Deryn pushed herself out of the throng of nude men and hurried after Alek back to the ship.

**To be continued**


	10. A Lagoon Afternoon pt 2

Stew again.

Alek despised stew. Of course they never served such rubbish back home in Prague, but back home in Prague they didn't have to feed a crew of hungry men on ship supplies.

Still, the stew was disgusting. It was nothing more than cabbage, fish and broth. He supposed he had liked it the first seven or eight times it had been served, but by now the dish was beginning to offset his stomach. It reflected his current mood; dreary and miserable.

The weather was behaving in a similar matter. After a few days of excruciating heat, the front had rolled through followed by wicked thunderstorms and winds. It was too dangerous to send the _Leviathan _adrift, so the ship had been forced to quarantine for another few days outside of Turkey.

Alek watched the branches of a nearby tree whip back and forth across the window. The rain was so thick he couldn't see further than a few meters. Looking through the tiny ship window of the mess hall, he wondered if his mood would ever change. Just the other day he had rescued Dylan from drowning. However, the rescuing attempt had turned out to be nothing but a joke. The midshipman had been faking the accident only to spite Alek. It made his mouth turn sour and Alek pulled his head away from the window to look back at his soup in disgust. He couldn't comprehend what was worse, the sight of Dylan drowning after he pushed him in the water, or the idea that Dylan had faked the entire thing.

He grumbled a curse and stirred the stew slowly with his spoon.

"Hello, Alek. You mind if I join you?"

He turned around to stare down the deserted table only to see the very midshipman he had been trying to avoid. It had been easy to stay away from Dylan these past two days since the boy seemed to be avoiding him as well. Yet it appeared that Dylan was looking for Alek's company again because he was standing in front of him with a tray of food, waiting for Alek to let him sit down.

Guilt got the best of him and Alek pushed out the chair across from him with his foot.

"Go ahead." He said gruffly as Dylan quickly grabbed the seat.

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Alek poked at his stew and Dylan stared out the window. It was strange to see the boy not eating. Alek knew that something must be really bothering Dylan if he didn't have an appetite.

"So," Dylan finally ventured to break the silence. "they made fish stew again."

Alek nodded his disapproval.

"I know how much you hate it, so I brought you something else instead."

Alek looked up from his food in surprise to see that Dylan had, in fact, a few plates of something other than stew. He watched carefully as the boy pushed his tray to the center of the table between them.

"Bangers and mash." Dylan pointed to an iron skillet filled with what appeared to be potatoes and sausages. "It's a favorite from back home."

Dylan started on his own portion then, ladling spoonfuls of mashed potatoes into his mouth with slow procession. It was odd to see Dylan eat so sluggishly. The boy usually piled everything into his mouth as if the world would suddenly end and there would be no food left. Currently, Dylan was too busy watching Alek to eat anything quickly.

Apparently he was waiting to see if Alek enjoyed the Scottish dish. He was staring at Alek, contemplating every move the prince made.

But Alek didn't touch the food. Even if Dylan made it himself, even if it looked and smelled amazing, Alek wasn't about to give in and consume the meal. If he did he would be giving in to whatever Dylan was trying to do.

"Gonna starve yourself then, aye?" He asked after a few more minutes of silence. "Because I know you won't touch the fish stew either."

It was probably meant to be a rude comment but there was no heart in it. Especially since Dylan had stopped eating after a few timid bites.

"I'm not hungry." Alek said. He pushed the plate away and was about to stand when Dylan spoke.

"Alek, I'm sorry."

Another long awkward silence. Alek sat back down to hear what else the boy had to say. Dylan didn't look him in the eye and started fiddling with his spoon.

"You were saying?"

"I feel awful about the other day, you know I do. I didn't want to make you mad. Honestly, it was meant to be a joke."

"I didn't think it was very funny."

"Of course you didn't! And now that I think of it, I probably would have been just as angry had you done the same thing to me. The whole thing was barking insane! I only did it cuz I was upset that you pushed me in the water. At the time I thought it would be a good way to get back at you."

Alek crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Dylan.

"You wanted to get back at me? I tossed you into the lagoon as a harmless act of fun, partly because I was worried you'd overheat yourself, and you had to get back at me? Most people aren't bothered that much if they get their clothes wet."

Dylan continued to pick at his spoon without making eye contact so Alek kept speaking.

"For what it's worth I thought I had drowned you, Dylan! Can you even begin to imagine what that is like?"

No answer. Alek was about to say more when he realized the strange expression on Dylan's face. The boy's cheeks had gone puffy and red and he was wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Alek had never seen the midshipman cry before. It was strange to even imagine that the boy could cry. Dylan was such a strong character that showing any form of weakness was unthinkable.

"Forget I mentioned it." Alek said. He rose from his seat and started walking away when he felt someone grab his wrist.

"Alek, I…"

Dylan had stood and followed him. He had wiped most of the tears from his face but a few fresh ones had tumbled out of his eyes. The effect made Alek a little ashamed.

"Whatever it is, Dylan, I don't need to hear it. You already apologized."

The boy shook his head frantically, releasing even more tears.

"I feel horrid. I can't stop thinking how I've made you mad with me. Please don't go yet."

Alek sighed. He really hadn't considered how upset Dylan might be. He had made quite a big deal out of nothing. No one had actually drowned and there wasn't any physical harm done. Shaking his head with a smile, Alek pulled the other boy into his arms.

Dylan shuddered from the embrace but Alek continued to hold him. Perhaps it was an awkward time to hug him, what with them being in the middle of the mess hall and Dylan's face full of tears, but Alek felt it was the right thing to do.

Finally Dylan pulled away. He sniffed back the last of his tears and returned to the table without a word. Alek joined him a second later.

"I think I will try some of that….what did you call it again?"

"Bangers and mash." Dylan beamed. He pushed the skillet over. "And you better eat every bite of it, you ninny, the cook doesn't know I stole the ingredients."

Alek happily filled his plate and began to eat. He couldn't remember having a more delicious meal.


	11. Rumors Adrift

When Deryn couldn't sleep at night her usual haunt was topside. She found that gazing at the stars and breathing in the wind as the airbeast moved to be soothing. Tonight she felt even more antsy than usual so she not only climbed dorsal but had brought her blanket as well. She planned to sleep in one of the extra hammocks that the riggers used while not on duty. There was a perfect one at the end that no one ever slept in because it was a squick smaller than the others. She liked to think it felt lonely and would like to have a visitor once and a while, that is, if hammocks had feelings.

Deryn tiptoed past the riggers who were already asleep and found that her favorite hammock was empty as a pig's trough. Flinging her blanket across the rope bed, she double checked behind her that no one was looking before diving into it. It took a few seconds to situate herself perfectly and when she was finally comfortable she gradually closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep.

No such luck. Relaxing it may be, but the gentle sway of the hammock did nothing to settle Deryn's stirring thoughts. It had been only twenty four hours since she had last spoken with Alek. It was then that the _dummkopf _of a prince had gone completely mental and tossed his scroll of approval into the Atlantic Ocean. He had then sworn his love to her and promised they would always be together.

Well…..maybe he didn't say that exactly, but she bet her bum that he meant to say that. He did kiss her.

TWICE!

Or maybe he didn't actually love her. Maybe he was so thrilled to not have to be a barking emperor that he kissed her out of sheer happiness.

But he did say she was the reason he killed Tesla. Not for a bloody kingdom but for her! He must love her.

Yet on the other hand he never said the words 'I love you' out loud.

Well….did he really need to? He kissed her instead.

TWICE!

And how did she feel about Alek giving up an empire for her? Happy? Scared? Angry? Maybe even a bit guilty?

Barking spiders, she was getting dizzy from thinking about it so much. No wonder she couldn't get any sleep. The whole Alek fiasco was utterly confusing. She had thought once they had kissed everything would be the cat's pajamas but unfortunately Alek hadn't spoken to her since that moment.

Stupid blasted prince.

She gave a sigh and turned over in her hammock so she was facing out at the deck and the surroundings around her. A few riggers were playing cards nearby. They were sitting in a circle with a glowworm lamp, their voices hushed as they threw coins down for poker money and exchanged gossip. Deryn started to focus on what they were saying so she would stop bothering over her own thoughts.

"…..couldn't even chew, the poor sod. I swear, all his teeth were completely gone and he couldn't even bite into a bit of toast." Said one of the riggers. He was pointing to his mouth with a horrified expression on his face. Deryn thought it was an ironic thing to say since the man didn't have many teeth himself.

"What did you say he got?" Another man chimed in.

"They called it scurvy. Wretched illness that happens to people who don't eat their vegetables. We're lucky we be flying where there's plenty of green food. Those poor fellows over in the North ain't got nothin' but canned stuff."

"No kiddin'." Said one of the others. "That's a terrible story Earl. Almost as bad as the one you tell about Harris' Dad."

"What's that? I haven't heard that one."

"Poor old chap," The rigger called Earl said. "He was only thirty five when he caught that white plague business. Folks say he was choking up his own lungs."

"I don't wanna hear this rubbish," Said the last man. He was smoking a long pipe that smelled of incense and hot summers. "Let's hear a nice story. Something that'll make me laugh."

"I don't think I know anything funny."

"Course you don't, Earl, you live on others' misfortune." The man with the pipe snapped. "Tell you what; I'll give you a juicy tidbit. Real good story actually, happened to me just yesterday. T'was the craziest thing I've seen since I was a lad. ."

Eager to hear what the man had to say, the others leaned closer to him.

"You all know that one middie?"

"The monkey luddite? Lord, you don't need a whole story, just hearing his name makes me crack up."

"No, the other one; Sharp."

Deryn's eyes widened with a snap and felt her muscles tense up.

"I like Sharp, what'd he do?"

"Was he steelin' food again? I saw him take a few potatoes last week."

"No. And if you shut yer trap I'll tell you." The man with the pipe squawked. He took a long drag from a hip flask before continuing. "I was minding the ropes yesterday afternoon while all you lot were getting ready to set off from New York. Most everybody was by the gondola, so they probably thought they would be alone if they went topside."

"Who?"

"Middie Sharp and that prince boy he's always with. You know, the Austrian."

The other riggers nodded and acknowledged that they knew who Alek was. Deryn continued to stay frozen except her eyeballs felt like they were getting wider.

"Well, I was tying ropes, like I said, and those two were passing by. I didn't pay much attention at first but when I didn't hear from them a few minutes later I went to check and see if they fell or something. I followed their path and when I came across them again, you wouldn't believe it, but the two were locking lips right there in front of me."

"You mean they were kissing?" Earl spoke.

"You're lying, that can't have happened." Said another man.

"No, I swear I saw it just as I see you here. The middie and the prince were snogging up a storm."

"Damn! I've heard of that before. When men don't see a proper lady for too long they begin to get desperate and start fancying each other."

"Not after we just got done with New York. Plenty of ladies looking for a Brittish soldier to kiss."

"Oh aye! I met three of 'em! Good gals, those New York birds!"

"Then those boys shouldn't be kissing one another. You don't suppose they like the company of men over women?"

"Could be. Wouldn't be the first time it happened."

Deryn's body was shaking hysterically. How in the hell did Alek and her miss seeing this rigger while they were…..well….. snogging. She supposed they were too distracted with each other to notice that they had a bystander. What was she going to do now? She couldn't just continue to sit there and listen to them blether on about her. It wouldn't be long until their rumors made it to the rest of the crew. Deryn had to do something, and fast.

It may have been from sitting still so long, or from the lack of sleep, or even because she had one more thing to worry about with the whole Alek fiasco, but whatever it was, Deryn did the unthinkable. Before even taking a second to breathe, she had crossed the deck, raised her fist and punched the man with pipe right in the jaw. None of the riggers even noticed what had happened until they saw the blood drip over the deck.

There was a fair bit of swearing, some kicking and punching as well as lots of spitting before Deryn realized that she had a swollen lip and black eye. Her knee, which had started in poor condition, seemed to have ripped open again from one of the kicks.

She had punched and kicked back fairly well and all of the men were accompanied by a good amount of bruises and cuts. However, she probably looked the worse of the lot. When one of them had her in a head lock and another punching her in the gut, she finally heard the chorus of howling sniffer dogs.

The beasties must have gone to get help because they were joined by a crowd of other crew members.

"ENOUGH!" Screamed a voice. "What on Earth are you fools doing! This isn't the time to be fighting over a poker game!"

They let her drop to the deck in an instant and Deryn screamed as the impact of the ground hit her bum knee.

"I'm sorry sir, it was just that…..well, you see…..HE STARTED IT!"

She turned and saw that her fight partners were all pointing at her. So they were as mature as wee little school boys.

"I see. Mr, Sharp, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

It was Mr. Rigby looking down at her. Could her luck be any worse?

Slowly she stood and adjusted for her sore knee while spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"M'sorry, sir." She managed. "But you see, they were….well….they were telling false stories about me and I had to stop them." She regretted saying it, but it was the best excuse she could come up with.

"So you decided to attack five other men who are all twice your size just because they were spouting a story about you?"

"Yes, sir."

He frowned and crossed his arms while examining the other culprits.

"Sorry, Sharp, but I don't buy that tale. What do you lot have to say?"

The others had the grace to look a bit ashamed. It wasn't every day that a pack of tough riggers teamed up on a wee middie. It took a bit but finally one of them spoke up.

"He just jumped on us sir." Said the man called Earl. "We were talking and he just flies out of nowhere and socks Paulson in the jaw."

Paulson must have been the man with the pipe who had seen Deryn and Alek kissing. He was the shortest and oldest of the group, but probably the scariest looking. His face was covered with hundreds of tiny cut marks and scars from years of flying and the split lip Deryn had given him only worsened his terrifying appearance.

"Is that so? Well, so be it." Mr. Rigby sighed. "The six of you will be reporting to the latrines every day at o'sixhundred hours for morning clean up until we dock in London next week. Also, seeing that I have warned you all multiple times that gambling is a felony in His Majesty's Air Force, if I see or hear about any more card games I will be sure to write up a report to the Captain about such actions. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" They all replied and saluted. Mr. Rigby began to leave but not without nodding to the other crew members to get going. They had acquired a squick of a crowd from the commotion. Most of the sleeping riggers were awake by now.

As the people dispersed, the riggers she attacked started to leave as well. Most of them gave her the evil eye and Earl even gave her a nasty hand gesture. Everyone was soon gone except for herself and Mr. Paulson.

There was a long pause before Deryn realized he was waiting for her to say something.

"Listen," She said quietly. "I…..I'm really sorry about that, your mouth that is. I shouldn't have hit you so hard."

Paulson snorted.

"You think I've never been punched before. You're not that smart, you know."

Deryn was a bit offended by that.

"Hang on a tick! You're the one who was blabbering on about me when you should have kept quiet! I never asked you to start spreading rumors like that."

At this, surprisingly, the man smiled.

"Like I said before, it wouldn't be the first time a man fancied another man. I'm just helping spread the news."

She hadn't expected him to say that.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, son. Us boys have been kissing one another for years now, so don't think you're onto something new. I just like to make it easier for the other fellows." He pointed with his thumb to where the other men had recently been standing. "My poker buddies may prefer the company of ladies but I know I need to get other ideas in their heads so they don't hate me for it later."

Deryn was still barking confused.

"You still don't make any sense."

"Next time you kiss your prince someone else may see you. I only am trying to make it less shocking for that person."

He then picked up his pipe which was lying on the ground, placed in his pocket and gave Deryn a wink before leaving after the others.

Still a bit confused by him and now TERRIBLY confused about Alek, she slowly returned to her hammock and tried to go back to sleep. It would be an early morning cleaning the latrines and Deryn needed her wits about her in case the other riggers decided to get revenge on her. She prayed they weren't sleeping well either.


	12. Light Reading

**If this one doesn't make you blush than I don't know what will ;)**

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><p>"Alek?" Deryn said. "Alek? I know you can hear me, bumrag, now open the door!"<p>

Still no response. Deryn knocked loudly on the fabricated wooden door for probably the fiftieth time.

"ALEKSANDER!"

Blisters, what was he doing in there? Waiting for a kidney stone to pass? She had been standing outside the ship latrines for a bit and was beginning to worry. Alek hadn't shown up for dinner and when she didn't find him in his bedroom, Newkirk suggested to check the toilets.

_Perhaps he's sick. _She told herself. Although she knew deep down that there was nothing physically wrong with Alek. She felt guilty thinking about it but Deryn Sharp was no idiot. She knew exactly what boys did when they went to the loo for way too long. After all, she had been flying about on a ship full of robust young men. It shouldn't surprise her that Alek had the same….well…_urges_, as the other crew members put it.

It was embarrassing enough that she was thinking such things let alone the fact that she wanted to catch him in the act.

_You're being a Dumkopf. _ She thought. _He's not going to admit he's in there. Especially since you're trying to break the door down. _

At least he thought she was a boy. Alek would probably die if he knew a girl was standing outside while he was…finishing.

Blushing like a nun, Deryn finally decided to leave. Standing there like a ninny just made her feel worse. Yet as she was about to exit the large room that held the stalls for the toilets, she heard the door of Alek's stall swing open.

"Oh." He said softly when he saw her there. "Dylan, I didn't know you were here."

She had the grace to look ashamed, but not without calling him out on his lie.

"What do you mean you didn't know I was here? I was banging on the door forever!"

Alek's face was red as a beet and his eyes were filled with guilt.

"I know that. I just…thought you had left. You had stopped knocking after a while."

So he was trying to escape after he thought she was gone. If only she had left a little sooner. She was now regretting having to confront him about this.

"Right. Well, sorry to have….disturbed you. I should go." She muttered before trying to leave again. That was until she noticed that Alek was holding something.

"Hang on a squick, what's that?"

Mortified, Alek quickly hid the object behind his back.

"Nothing! It's nothing!"

Too late. Deryn had already gotten a glimpse of what it was. Some sort of book.

She quickly paced over to him with a grin on her face. Her shame was gone now, replaced by the need to tease the young prince.

"You got yer'self a naughty mag, haven't you?" She snapped. "Come now, let's have a look see!"

She reached behind him but he easily avoided her grasp.

"A what? Pardon me, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh come on, Alek! Let me see!" She reached again but with Alek's quick fencing maneuvers he quickly darted away. "I know it's a girly book, Alek, where did you get it? In Istanbul?"

"Again, I don't know what you're talking about." He barked. "There is nothing of…."

"AHAH I got it!" With glee Deryn snatched the book out of his arms and raised it above her. "Let's get a look. Awful barking heavy for a girly mag. I didn't know they made them in hard cover. So….this one is called…."

She flipped to the front page.

"The History and Ethics of Life Threads in Darwinist Theories."

…

Long pause.

"Alek, what the hell?"

"I can explain!" His face was so red his ears had begun to turn color as well "I took it from Dr. Barlow's room. She doesn't know I have it."

Deryn began to flip through the pages until she found what she was looking for, a diorama of the female reproductive organs of both a human and a chimpanzee.

"Alek, this is disgusting! I don't understand you at all, but if this is what gets you going, by all means, have at it." She tossed the book back to him and shuddered. Honestly, could this get more bizarre? The boy must be bonkers if this was the kind of stuff he fancied. "Next time get a girly mag like everyone else."

"I beg your pardon, but what exactly is a…..girly mag?"

Deryn rolled her eyes.

"Seriously? You really think I'm going to fall for that one! Even you, who lived in a palace, must know what a girly mag is."

Apparently he didn't. He just furrowed his brow in confusion. She knew he wouldn't be able to pull a lie like that one off.

"You know, like a magazine with naked ladies in it. Pornography."

His eyes bulged and he stepped back from her.

"Meine gott, do such things exist?"

"Ummmm, are you daft? Of course they do. Blisters, you really were born under a rock."

"That means…..you think…you thought I was….but. God's wounds Dylan, what kind of person do you think I am?"

"A barking normal one. It's perfectly natural to touch yourself. I suppose you clankers must not think so. I'm just disgusted that that's the sort of book you'd like to look at."

"WHAT?" He threw the book on the floor in furry. "ARE YOU MAD? Christ, Dylan, you thought I was doing _that? _I was merely reading up on the history of Darwinism!"

She frowned. "Yes, but in the toilet?"

Alek sighed and straightened his shirt. "It was too embarrassing to read in my room. If Volger found out, he'd probably disown me."

Deryn suddenly felt the bottom of her stomach collapse.

"You were in here because you didn't want anyone to catch you reading Darwinist literature?"

"Yes!" He shouted. "And you had to come along and twist it into something dirty and perverted."

"Oh."

Well, she had definitely gotten herself into a pickle. Alek would probably never look at her the same again.

"Oh." She said again. "Sorry 'bout that. I'll go now." She began to turn away.

"Wait!" Alek shouted after her.

She turned around and saw him picking up the book from the floor. He wasn't looking at her when he spoke again.

"Were you telling the truth about those…..er…..magazines."

She grinned. Barking boys were all the same, even the clanker ones.

"Aye, I was."

"Oh…..um…..well, you don't have any, of course."

She snorted. "If you're trying to figure out how to get one, Alek, I may be able to help you."

Perhaps this wasn't such a barking mess after all.


	13. Nightmares

**WARNING! This is bad. bad bad bad. Why do I have such a dirty mind? I apologize greatly for this chapter but once I wrote it I figured it would be wasted if I never posted it. I'm really sorry for this smuttiness. **

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><p>There were many things Alek appreciated about his friend Dylan Sharp. The boy was clever, strong, and punctual. He encompassed a delightful sense of humor and had a marvelous way with the other crew members. Dylan was always willing to help in a difficult situation, he was honest and Alek knew he could trust the midshipman with anything. In fact, if he admitted to it, Alek was certain that Dylan was his favorite new Darwinist companion. There was nothing about Dylan that would upset the young prince. That is, almost nothing.<p>

Now that the airbeast was taking on more cargo since their departure from Istanbul, the men were being forced to share rooms. No one wanted to be paired with Dylan Sharp as a roommate, and Alek knew exactly why.

Dylan talked in his sleep.

He didn't know about it at first until he heard the rumors from the other crew members. Some complained that they could hear the boy screaming all the way down the hall while Newkirk swore that Dyaln kept him up all night from his strange nightmares.

From the few times Alek had seen Dylan sleeping he never witnessed any sleep talking. He had no quam with his room arrangement when he learned that he'd be paired with the midshipman. Dylan, on the other hand, had been devastated.

"You're with me?" The boy questioned. "But…..that…that won't do!"

"What's wrong? I thought this would be perfect. I don't have to room with Volger and you don't have to pair with Newkirk. You do keep complaining about his smell."

"Aye," Dylan had responded. "But….."

"But what?"

"Nothing."

He had seemed terribly embarrassed about something but Alek didn't see it as anything more than being shy. Yet when he learned later about the sleep talking, he assumed it was what Dylan was ashamed of and decided to discuss it with him that night.

"I've overheard that you talk in your sleep." Alek stated as he began to fluff his pillow and settle in for bed.

"Is that so?" Dylan chuckled. He had changed into his nightclothes under the covers and now had a large wool blanket draped over him. "Aye, I suppose I've always been a squick of a night mumbler. Usually only happens if I'm stressed or sick. That's when I tend to have nightmares. If it wakes you up, just yell at me a tad and I should hush up. My brother used to throw rubbish at me sometimes and that worked too." He grinned with one side of his mouth. "I shouldn't be a bit of a problem tonight, let's hope."

Alek nodded while a yawn caught him. "Very well. But I don't think I'd feel comfortable throwing something at you."

"Ah, don't worry yer'self. I wouldn't even feel it."

"Really? Well, in that case, I suppose I may resort to that if necessary. But do try and sleep soundly, Dylan, I have to be up fairly early."

"As do I, your highness. So, goodnight then."

"Yes, goodnight."

Dylan whistled to lower the glowworms and soon they were both fast asleep. Alek figured he had made if through half the night when Dylan started yelling.

"HELP! Barking spiders! OUCH!"

Alek shot up like he had been bitten by a snake.

"God's wounds! Dylan, are you all right?"

"HELP, I'm trapped!"

"Trapped?"

"AYE! I'm trapped in an omelet!"

It took a moment for him to realize that Dylan was speaking to him from a nightmare.

"It's all over me! Help, get me out!"

Perplexed, Alek rose from his cot and crossed the room to see what Dylan was screeching about. The boy was completely tangled in a cocoon of blankets. The heavy wool cloth was practically suffocating him it was wrapped so tightly around his body. Alek sighed with annoyance before grabbing the blanket and quickly tugging it away from Dylan's form. Immediately the midshipman gasped for fresh air before grumbling a bit under his breath.

"Go back to sleep." Alek said before stomping back to his bed.

Dylan grumbled a bit more of what sounded like swear words.

"HUSH!" Alek shouted, taking the boy's advice to yell at him in order for the sleep talking to stop. There was a brief moment of silence before another mumbled: "Yes, captain." And Dylan turned over and instantly was fast asleep.

Alek rolled his eyes and shook his head. No one ever said that Dylan was a normal young man. It was bothersome but it wasn't unexpected. Alek found he was even chuckling a bit at the other boy as he finally drifted off to sleep again.

It wasn't long for the sleep talk to start again, only this time it was more like sleep moaning.

"God's wounds, now what?" Alek murmured. To his left, Dylan was contorted in a bizarre position while he was gasping and moaning like mad. Alek figured he was suffocating again, but there was no longer a blanket over his head since Alek had removed the heavy covers earlier. Instead, the boy was twisted amongst a light sheet that was tightly wound around his hips. His legs were bent in odd angles and he appeared to be twitching and quivering oddly.

For some reason Alek couldn't stop staring. He even whistled for the glowworms to brighten so he could get a better look. As soon as he did, he terribly wished he hadn't. The light illuminated the red flush that had overcome Dylan's cheeks and neck. The boy was sweating as well and along with the moaning he was rocking with his hips and moving his hands suggestively over his pelvis.

Alek could tell he was still dreaming. Between the groans and deep breathing Dylan was still muttering to himself. It was terribly disturbing but Alek still couldn't turn away. In fact, his own breath was catching and he could feel his body getting hot just by watching Dylan's pleasure.

_This is wrong!_ Alek told himself. _I need to get him to stop!_

"DYLAN!" He suddenly shouted. His cry seemed to pierce through Dylan's dream a little and the rocking stopped for a moment.

"_ALEK!"_ Dylan crooned in a voice that clearly wasn't his own. "_Alek, please….I can't …I can't do it myself.…" _The shuddering and groping continued. "_Please, Alek, help me."_

Alek swallowed. And swallowed again. He didn't move or yell but simply continued to stare at his friend struggling. This was too much. He may have had dreams like this in the past but certainly not this explicit and definitely, DEFINITELY not about another man!

Eventually the groaning began to get louder. It had never been terribly noisy but now he was beginning to worry that someone else would hear. Quickly he grabbed his pillow and thrust it across the room where it made contact with Dylan's face. Almost instantly the boy was broken from his trance and awoke wide eyed and confused.

"Blisters, what was that for!?"

"You….you were….er….talking in your sleep." Alek was able to grumble.

Dylan suddenly seemed perfectly fine and was behaving as though nothing had happened. He tossed Alek back his pillow while giving him a puzzled expression.

"What happened to you? Are you sick?"

"I'm fine." Alek lied. He tried fanning himself with his hand to relieve some of his heat.

"Are you sure? You weren't having a nightmare were you?"

"I told you, I'm fine!" He snapped, perhaps a bit too loudly. Dylan was now looking at him suspiciously.

"You look all hot and bothered." The boy smirked. "I bet I know what you were dreaming about!"

Flustered, Alek began to stammer.

"You….you… what are you talking about? _I _wasn't dreaming about anything! You, on the other hand…..my God, Dylan, you were having one very heavy dream."

Unfortunately Dylan didn't believe him. He only laughed.

"Oh, Aye! Then why are you all sweaty, your highness? Too busy wondering what I was dreaming about, I'm sure."

The sarcasm in Dylan's voice was irksome enough, let alone that he was almost dead on about why Alek was so red in the face.

"Be quiet!" Alek snapped again. "I was serious about getting up early!"

"Fine." Dylan shook his head and smiled. "Just don't wake me up if you have another wet dream."

Dylan easily turned over and went back to sleep peacefully. Alek, on the other hand had a bit more difficulty managing to calm down after the previous episode. Annoyed with himself he decided to get out of bed and head for the restrooms where he could splash his face with some cool water.

After that, Alek promised he would try to find another person to roommate with.


	14. Light Reading pt 2

**This is a continuation of Chapter 12**

"I'm not sure I understand the meaning of this picture." Alek stated as he flipped the book upside down to better examine the image inside. "Although the composition is flawless, her figure complements the picture plane wonderfully and the artist was obviously paying attention to the use of negative space. However, I can't imagine that a woman would stand in such a strange position. Clearly she wouldn't be comfortable with her legs outstretched like that. What do you suppose, Dylan?"

Dylan appeared to not have been listening because he was too busy giggling over his own book.

"Dylan?"

"Hmmm? Oh, sorry. What did you say?" Dylan took a brief moment to breathe after laughing so much before scooting closer to Alek to see what he was talking about.

Alek sighed.

"I was just commenting on how the thought processes behind these pictures is somewhat flawed. The artist clearly was focusing on composition and lighting, but his common sense about human anatomy is atrocious."

Dylan erupted into another fit of laughter.

"Blisters Alek, it's only a girly pic! I doubt that anyone was thinking about the way it looked as much as you did! This isn't Michelangelo, for God sake, it's a porno magazine!"

Alek frowned and flipped through the pamphlet to examine some more images. It had only been a few minutes since he started looking and the light from the glowworm lamp wasn't very good. They were currently sitting on the floor of the middy linen closet, examining a few pornography magazines that Dylan had acquired. The photographs weren't terrible. Most of the women were artfully covered in sheer fabrics and scarves. The photographer must have used a tinted lens because the images were slightly foggy, giving the women a softer complexion. He was actually quite impressed with most of the camera work and tried to explain this to Dylan.

"I beg your pardon, but some of these are very well done. Take this one for example. I think the artist was thinking….."

"Alek, stop it!" Dylan snatched the book away from him. "They aren't artists because this isn't artwork. So stop trying to analyze it like it's one of your royal masterpiece collections. You're not making this any fun. Here, look at this one instead."

Dylan dropped the book he had been looking at in Alek's lap. It was a smaller, nearly the size of his palm, and printed on cheaper paper. When he began flipping through pages Alek almost threw the thing across the room. It was disgusting. The photographs were replaced with rudely drawn cartoons and bits of dialog above them. But because Dylan was watching, Alek took the time to read the little book. It was the story of an Indian princess named Lady Taj Mahal who had fallen in love with a British soldier. She had yearned for him so much while he was away at war that when he returned she practically mauled him with her poorly drawn, disproportionate body.

At least that was what Alek could glean from the crude English grammar. Most of the language was in heavy slang and he had to make Dylan translate, of which the boy was not so cooperative.

"Well….that word means…*giggle giggle* ummmm , I really don't want to say it! I guess its kindof another word for the last thing we were talking about but more like if she were an animal."

"That's terrible. But I'm curious, what does this one mean?" Alek pointed at another short saucy sounding word that was accompanied by a very explicit picture.

Dylan had turned a rather deep shade of scarlet from all this talking and it was difficult to get him to say much without either laughing a lot or covering his mouth with his hands.

"Dylan, this is getting frustrating. I know you aren't as accustom to the nude form as I might be. I did have years of tutoring in classical art. But still, you should know the difference between a well conceived form and a disgraceful one like this."

"ummmm, what?"

"I don't mean to sound like I'm demeaning you, but I don't think you're used to the subject of the nude female so I don't believe you understand how mortifying this is."

At this Dylan blanched and his eyes widened profusely.

"Are you saying you've seen more naked girls than I have!?"

Alek slapped himself in the forehead.

"No, Dylan, I'm saying that you don't understand how much these images disgrace women." He flipped to the most vulgar image he could find and pushed it toward Dylan. "Now, if you were a woman, how would this make you feel?"

Dylan didn't answer. Instead he just gaped at the foul picture and then stared at Alek like he was some sort of hallucination.

"I don't mean how she feels if this specific sexual act is done to her, although that is clearly another argument because this would probably hurt her, but how she would feel if she saw this drawing. Do you think a lady would like it if she knew her husband or, god forbid, her son was looking at these pictures and enjoying them? Think what your own mother would say! I have to admit that I'm shocked that you have this book. Not that I'm mad at you, but I am very disappointed and quite disgusted."

There was a long silence as Dylan seemed to be swallowing in what Alek had just told him. During the quiet Alek began to think that maybe he had spoke to rashly. Dylan was his friend, after all, and at times he forgot that Dylan was raised in a completely different upbringing. Never had Alek believed that his friend was of lower intelligence than him, and he certainly didn't think any less of Dylan because he was from a different class. He was beginning to worry that he had offended Dylan.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that so brashly." Alek finally broke the silence. He didn't have the strength any more to look at Dylan in the face. "I know it was my idea for you to show me these things and it is unfair for me to judge you on them."

"Alek….I…... I'm a bit….I don't know what to say. I….just, that was really amazing that was."

Alek looked up to see that Dylan's face had turned blood scarlet again and his eyes had gone all misty and soft.

"Oh! Don't cry, Dylan, I didn't mean it!"

"Woah, hang on a squick. I'm not crying! I'm a little miffed that you care so much what my ma thinks, but either than that I think you said something really smart, Alek."

"Oh." A tiny grin began to grow on Alek's lips.

"The fact that you respect women so much is really, well, it's very nice. I'd almost say it's heroic."

"Heroic?"

"Aye." Dylan pushed himself a little closer to Alek so they were almost touching noses. The other boy's eyes still had that cloudy look. He was sure it wasn't because the boy was crying. It looked more like Dylan had moons for eyes because he was so struck by what Alek had said. It made his stomach squirm and Alek had the bizarre feeling that Dylan wanted to kiss him.

"Ummm….." Alek backed away from his friend. "So where did you get these anyways? Again, I'm not judging, but I would get rid of them if I were you."

Dylan blinked and suddenly the misty feeling was gone.

"They aren't mine, _dummkopf!_"

"Then where did you get them?"

"None of your business. But I assure you, I will not be keeping them."

And with that Dylan snatched both of the books out of Alek's hands before opening the door and escorting him out of the closet.

"Before you leave, let's get one thing straight." Dylan said. "Nobody knows that this happened, and I'd like to keep it that way."

Alek could tell his friend was serious, but Dylan still had a rather humorous grin on his face.

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Alek answered.


	15. Winter's Night

**This chapter is kind of a copy of another chapter I wrote in the fic _What is the Goliath_. I liked the idea so much I decided to revamp it for this. **

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><p>It was freezing outside. Alek hadn't ventured into the winter landscape yet but it sure looked terrible from his cabin window. He tightened his scarf around his neck before slipping his pilot's cap on. His jacket wasn't nearly thick enough for this kind of weather, but it would have to do for now.<p>

"Mein Gott, Aleksander! You weren't thinking of going outside were you?"

It was Volger speaking and goodness did he look upset. Alek hadn't seen him twitch his mustache so quickly in a long time.

"The ship is in need of repair and the crew needs every man they can get. I'm not going to sit in my room and let the Darwinists suffer through this. Not after they have flown us halfway across the continent."

"In case you have forgotten, sire, they are the enemy. I highly suggest you remove that coat and stay indoors where it is warm and safe."

Alek rolled his eyes. It wasn't like a battlefield outside. The _Leviathan_ had had a brief problem with its hydrogen production due to the bitter cold. They had to make an emergency landing and most of the airship had deflated from the impact. The entire crew was out in the night trying to restore the ship back to flying conditions while Alek was sitting idly in his cabin without any way to help. That is, until he decided to go out and do some heavy lifting himself.

"I don't believe I would be enabling them as an enemy when we are also trapped here until the ship is fixed."

Volger looked like he wanted to say more but he was too busy clenching his jaw to vocalize anything. Alek ignored him and started for the door. He admired his fencing tutor but lately Volger had become especially protective. Alek supposed it had started after he had escaped into Istanbul by himself a few weeks prior. And it probably hadn't helped when he returned to the _Leviathan _after Volger had clearly instructed him to escape into the countryside of the Ottoman Empire.

Truthfully, Alek could understand the Wildcount's hesitation but he still felt obligated to assist the Darwinists. Alek would not be called the spoiled prince who sat in his bedchamber when there was work to be done.

Yet once he ventured out of the warmth of the gondola Alek realized he may regret his decision. Last time he had been anywhere near this sort of cold had been back in Switzerland where he had first encountered the _Leviathan._ It had been cold that night but this….. this was the middle of the Russian Empire and far more frigid than what he had seen before.

He pulled his leather jacket in closer to himself and stuffed his face deeper within his scarf. There was an arctic wind blowing from the north which threatened to freeze his skin off. He couldn't see straight due to the flurry of snowflakes that smothered the air as well as the occasional flechette bat that had scampered loose after their landing.

It took him a good ten minutes before he could meander over by the rest of the crew. His feet kept sinking deeply into the snow and he wished he still had his snowshoes from back in Switzerland. The men were attaching ropes to pulleys and assisting each other to pull the ship's dorsal region out of the deepening snow. From their shouts and curses Alek could put together that they were in a great hurry and immediately could see why. Unfortunately the airship had landed onto a frozen lake. Beneath the snow was not solid ground, but ice. There was no way of knowing for sure, but he could guess that the ship's weight may threaten to break the ice beneath his feet.

Quickly, he looked for the nearest officer he could find and asked how he could help.

"Excuse me, sir!" He yelped to a man he recognized as Mr. Rigby, the ships' bosun. "Where can I be of the most assistance?"

Mr. Rigby was leading a pack of sniffer dogs around searching for possible hydrogen leaks. He gave Alek a scornful look but didn't refuse his offer.

"Aye, we need every hand available, even yours, your majesty." He gave a small mocking bow which Alek chose to ignore. "I'm afraid I've got too many fabs and not enough men. Mr. Newkirk has already injured himself, the buffoon, twisted his wrist or something. And I've lost Mr. Sharp."

Alek purpled at that last comment. He had been wondering where Dylan had run off to. The boy had an uncanny ability to get himself into the thickest part of a situation. Alek was certain the midshipman had volunteered for the most dangerous position available after the landing.

"Here." Rigby handed Alek a handful of leashes that were attached to three large sniffer dogs. "They won't hurt you, Clanker. All you have to do is let them lead you around and if they start howling, use this whistle to alert for help. I don't think there are any leaks, but it's always good to be safe. And while you're at it, keep an eye out for Sharp. I'm beginning to worry about the little bugger."

"What was he doing when you last saw him?" Alek asked.

The man gave a sad sigh. "He wanted to help push the hull out of the ice." Rigby pointed to the aft end of the ship where the whale's head had fallen dangerously through some thin ice. "It didn't seem that bad before. We only needed to get her ten or so yards the other way and she'd be ashore. Unfortunately, we weren't fast enough and she's started to break through the ice. It may be a lost cause, and I'm afraid we'll lose the ship."

Alek didn't wait to talk to him any longer and with his small pack of overly zealous fabricated dogs, he hurried over to the whale's head.

There was no one near this area of the ship anymore. Obviously the men had given up on pushing the whale and had started pulling her out of the water instead, hence all the ropes he had seen before. Thankfully it seemed to be working since he could see the large head of the deflated airship inching out of the frosty water.

He ventured as close as he could to the delicate spot where the ice had split, hoping he wouldn't find his friend amidst the frozen waves.

Yet as he closed in on the area, the dogs began to pull him with a great rush of strength towards a portion of the whale's skin. They barked frantically and pulled Alek so hard he fell over, dropping their leads and letting them scurry through the snow. Thankfully the ice was thick enough for their combine weight and Alek followed them as quickly as he could.

They found Dylan hanging on with his bare hands to the ratlines of the fallen airship. His body was almost completely submerged in the water. He must have been standing in that exact spot when the ice had broken beneath him and he had fallen up to his neck in the black, wintry, Russian waters. Instead of tumbling under the ice to drown, Dylan had skillfully grabbed hold of the ropes which he still clung to with icy fingers.

Alek didn't think through what he was doing. He had feared the worst since he had stepped out into the cold and something inside him had wondered if his friend would survive the night.

Pushing those dreadful thoughts from his mind, Alek slid to the ground face first and reached across the hole in the ice. His hands found Dylan's instantly and with a great amount of effort, he pried the boy's grip off of the rope and hauled his friend out of the water and into the snow beside him.

"Gottes Wunden, Dylan. Are you all right?!"

Dylan was conscious, but only barely. He blinked at Alek a few times and shivered terribly, but he didn't say anything. Alek tried to get him to sit up straight, but clearly that wasn't happening. The boy wasn't able to hold up his own body weight and his eyes were starting to droop into sleep.

"DYLAN! God's wounds, don't you dare fall asleep! Stay with me, please!"

Still, his friend was drifting away into a deathly slumber so Alek continued to shout and began to slap his face. The sniffer dogs had all scattered by now and when Alek tried using the whistle to signal for help it was clear that he was out of earshot of the rest of the men.

Frantic, Alek stood as quickly as he could and with unknown strength he swung Dylan's frosty form over his shoulder. If no one was coming he would have to take Dylan back to the gondola himself. He couldn't let Dylan freeze to death. He couldn't bear losing another person who was close to him. Especially his only dear friend.

With the added weight it was even more difficult to trudge through the thickening snow. Not for the first time Alek wished he had brought his snowshoes with him from Switzerland.

After what seemed like years he was able to make it to the gondola. Surprisingly the men had made quite a recovery of the fallen ship. The gondola and almost two thirds of the whale had been pulled onto the shore. Alek didn't pause to find someone for help. He figured he only had seconds before Dylan's life slipped away. Better get the boy to a dry warm place fast and then seek help from the ship's surgeon after Dylan had regained some warmth to his system. He trampled to the first bedroom onboard he could find before finally lowering Dylan onto the bed and looking the middy over properly.

Being chilled was one thing but Dylan had literally turned blue. His wet clothes had begun to freeze along with his already frozen hair and his eyelashes and eyebrows had collected a fair amount of snow. Alek slammed the door to the bedroom closed to keep out the cold before beginning on Dylan's clothes. He figured that the faster he could get his friend out of his wet things and into the dry blankets, the better. So he began to rip the uniform off of Dylan.

For some reason the action of removing his clothing stirred Dylan from his semi unconsciousness.

"No! STOP!" Dylan shouted quite furiously. He attempted to push Alek away with his shaky hands but he was too weak to get far with that.

"Hush. I need to get these off so we can get you properly warm again." Alek grumbled. He easily pushed Dylan's feeble cold arms out of his way.

But Dylan continued to struggle and yell. Never enough to actually push Alek away, but it did worry the prince that the boy would injure himself in the fight.

"You're being ridiculous! Stop fidgeting and let me remove these clothes."

"NO!"

"Dylan, the cold is making you delirious. You need to let me…."

"NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!"

He must have had some strength left because he managed to punch Alek rather hard in the jaw. Alek swore loudly.

"FINE!" The prince snapped. The situation was starting to get more than a little stressful. "I'm trying to help you and you're near death but if you won't let me assist you than I suppose I should leave."

He wasn't really going to leave but the threat did register to Dylan and the middy calmed down.

"Sorry." Dylan whispered through chattered teeth. He stopped moving so Alek could come close and unbutton his jacket. It was practically frozen to his body but Alek managed to yank it off as well as the button up shirt beneath it. Surprisingly when he got down to Dylan's bare skin he noticed that the boy had a tight cotton linen wrapped snuggly around his chest.

"Dylan, what is this?"

Dylan shrugged and looked away. "I….I had an injury before and I ummm ….I had to bandage it."

The bandage was soaking wet with the icy lake water and Dylan's skin was sickly white against it.

"We should remove it." Alek stated bluntly. He reached down for his switch blade so he could cut the bandages quickly but Dylan yelped loudly in protest.

"NO! I….I can't."

Alek groaned in frustration. He didn't have time for this. Clearly the middy was suffering from Hypothermia and Alek couldn't let a wet bandage kill his friend from frostbite.

"I'll bleed to death, Alek!"

That stopped him. Alek realized that removing an old bandage could be problematic. Instead, Alek used the knife to roughly cut off the fabric of Dylan's pants before they froze too much to his skin. Dylan cringed dramatically, but he didn't push Alek away.

Finally, Alek deemed that he had removed as much of the clothing that Dylan would let him. He threw his knife on the ground before beginning to remove his own clothes.

"What….what the hell are you doing?" Dylan squeaked. Alek had pulled his coat and shirts off quickly so he was bare chested before beginning on his outer pants. Dylan's eyes had widened to the size of doorknobs as he stared at Alek undressing.

"I'm saving your life, _dummkopf_." He stated with a large eye roll.

In seconds Alek was down to his boxers and quickly jumped into the bed beside his friend. He wrapped his arms around Dylan's frigid form and pulled him close to his chest.

"BARKING SPIDERS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"I told you, I'm saving your life. That is, trying to keep you warm with my own body heat. It's the quickest way I can think of to try and rescue you."

"….Oh."

He must have been miserable because Alek was starting to feel horribly cold just from touching Dylan's icy skin. He couldn't imagine how cold Dylan must feel.

Yet as Dylan continued to shiver, Alek held him close. With their chests pressed up together and Alek's arms wrapped snug around the middy's back, he could feel the boy's weak heartbeats and tender breaths. It was terrifying, holding him there as close as possible and still wondering whether his friend's life would still slip away beneath his arms.

But Dylan was strong. His breathing slowly began to thicken and his heart rate became steadier. Alek could even feel the warmth returning to the boy's skin. It took hours but Alek was starting to realize that Dylan would survive this fight. He rested his chin on Dylan's shoulder and smiled to himself while pulling the midshipman a little closer. Alek let his eyes close and gently began to drift off to sleep.

**To be continued**


	16. Winter's Night pt 2

It had been forever since Alek had slept so soundly. For the first time since he had left Prague, Alek felt like he had gotten a comfortable night's rest. This was terribly confusing and as he lay half awake in the morning sunlight, he tried to ponder out what had caused this night to be different.

It took a few seconds for the events from last night to come back to him but they came back with a fury. Images of the _Leviathan_ sinking into a frozen lake, snow hurdling into his face, barking sniffer dogs and even the sounds of the cracking ice beneath his feet were still echoing in his head. And, of course, there was Dylan. The midshipman was still huddled close in Alek's arms. Surprisingly this wasn't an uncomfortable position. In fact it was rather nice lying there beside his friend. He guessed it was due to the fact that he hadn't been this close to another person in ages. Come to think of it, Alek couldn't remember the last time he had been held for an extended period of time. Physical signs of affection had been frowned upon back when he lived in the palace. He recalled that his parents had to sneak kisses to one another without anyone seeing, and it was very rare when he would receive an occasional embrace from his mother or father. Since the assassination there was even less. That is, unless Volger decided to start hugging him.

Realizing how starved he had been for human contact, Alek pulled the boy a bit closer. Sunlight had started to stream through the porthole above the bed. It glistened innocently through the room shining on particles of dust and stopping gently on the pillows and bed sheets that surrounded them. A touch of the delicate light had caught in Dylan's hair. The golden color of his strands sparkled a bit and Alek wondered why he had never noticed the lovely shade of bronze before. Out of pure impulse he reached out to brush a fragment of hair from Dylan's eyes. After being frozen all night his hair had melted and dried and was much softer than Alek's coarse auburn hair. Even his skin was soft and pale as cream in the morning sun.

The touch caused Dylan to stir in his sleep. He barely opened one eye and glared at Alek. The movement made the prince jump and he quickly pulled his hand back.

"Sorry! Pardon me! I just…..um…there was something in your hair." He lied.

Dylan grumbled something that resembled a curse before turning over so they were no longer facing one another. By doing so, Alek's arm brushed up against the boy's bandages which he realized were still fairly soaked from the night before.

"Dylan, you must be freezing in this. Perhaps since it is light out now I could take you to the medic and have it properly removed?"

The midshipman merely snorted and pulled some of the blankets away from Alek.

"Then again, maybe you would prefer to sleep a little longer. In that case….."

"Could you shut your barking trap?! Go back to sleep."

Alek sighed and gave a meaningless shrug. He supposed the wet bandages weren't all that harmful. It was still pretty early judging from the sun and a little more sleep couldn't hurt. Alek gladly snuggled up again next to his friend and began to drift off.

However, as soon as he had nodded off again, there was a loud yelp that awoke him suddenly. Both he and Dylan nearly shot out of the bed in fright as they were greeted by a very surprised looking soldier at the bedroom door.

"Bloody Christ! What the hell are you doing in my room!?" The man cried.

"That's a smart question!" Dylan hollered while snatching the blankets around him and bolting for the door. "But I haven't the time to talk, sorry. Goodbye!"

Alek didn't have the airman's sense to jump out of the room as quickly so he stood there for a moment before Dylan shouted at him.

"Barking spiders, Alek, get your clothes. Run!"

In a few seconds Alek had thrown his shirt and pants on and ran after Dylan who was already out on the deck in nothing but his undergarments and a ragged ship's blanket. He hastily followed his friend until they reached the midshipman's quarters. Dylan didn't realize that Alek was behind him until he was right outside the door.

"Blisters, ALEK! You followed me!? You really are a ninny!"

"But, I had to make sure you were alright!"

"I'm fine, you bumrag!" Dylan had opened the door and now stood behind it so it blocked most of his body from view. "Get the hell out of here before he comes chasing after us! He's already going to start a bunch of rumors. If we escape to the same room it could be even worse!"

"Rumors? What rumors?"

Dylan rolled his eyes dramatically. "You are such a barking prince! Rumors about us….you know…." His voice trailed off as he gave a swirling gesture with his hand as if to fill in the blanks.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Arghh! Come on Alek, he probably thinks we were, you know….._sleeping_ together."

Alek blinked. "_What?! _That's absurd! What kind of man thinks of such things!? Honestly, I'll have you know that…"

"Just get out of here, numbskull! We can't be seen together!" And with that, Dylan slammed the door in Alek's face.

"Well, I never…." Alek grumbled to himself as he started to drift away from Dylan's room. Clearly Dylan was an idiot to believe in such ridiculousness. Yet as he started for his own chambers Alek began to consider the possibilities of Dylan's claim.

Did such incidents of men sleeping together actually occur? He had heard about the ancient Greeks and Romans behaving in that manner but he had never believed it could happen nowadays. Then again there had been a story or two of men falling in love with other men while away at war. It had something to do with being separated from women for so long that the soldiers started to forget their girlfriends and wives and start having affections for each other out of sheer necessity.

Alek quivered nervously. Was Dylan suggesting that he and Alek were participating in that way? God's wounds! What would make him come to that conclusion? Obviously Alek had only been trying to save Dylan's life, not attempt at anything romantic!

He tried to dismiss the idea from his mind, but unfortunately now that the idea was brought up he couldn't shake it away. Furious with himself, Alek finally made it back to his own room and tried to dash the ridiculous concept from his mind. Yet as he began to change his clothes and prepare himself for the day, Alek couldn't stop picturing Dylan's scantily clad form asleep in the sunlight. What on earth had come over him?

He blamed it on the Darwinists.

* * *

><p><strong>If I can come up with more I will continue this...Thanks for the great reviews everyone! I would respond to every single one but I'm either too lazy or too busy. (most likely the first) but I love you all! Sorry for the lousy grammar<br>**


	17. Long Time Gone

**What would have happened if Alek never discovered Deryn's secret? Suppose he became an Emperor and all? ****Read on to find out. This is going to be a multiple chapter thing. **

* * *

><p>A small airship had docked alongside the <em>Leviathan. <em> It was an American vessel that the captain had requested to carry Alek and his men home to Austria. It should have been a delight to see. What with the Darwinists defeating the Germans he could now return home safely and begin his rule over his Great Uncle's Empire. It had been everything Alek had ever dreamed of. The scroll which held the proof of his lineage and signature of the Holy Father was wrapped tightly beneath Alek's breast pocket. Count Volger was ordering the crew to fly them directly to Prague without any hesitation. Everything was finally fitting into place exactly the way it should. He should have been ecstatic.

Yet as Alek prepared for his final departure off the _HMS Leviathan_, he couldn't remember feeling more wretched.

"You'll have time to write me, won't you? Not going to be too busy being a barking emperor I hope?" Dylan smiled as he tossed Alek's small suitcase onto the tiny aircraft. It was raining slightly. Alek could see that a few drops had crystallized in the midshipman's hair and eyelashes.

"I'll make the time, Dylan, I promise! However, as future emperor I have every right to command you to respond to my letters with effortless speed." Alek said, a grin spreading on his face. It helped him keep away the tears that were threatening to fall.

Dylan snorted. "Aye, your majesty. And you better come visit me soon. God knows that Glasgow needs some more Clanker emperors around."

They both laughed then. It was an awkwardly quiet laugh for them. Neither would look at the other due to their approaching separation. Alek decided he was fed up with the stale goodbye and closed the space between them by leaping at Dylan and surrounding him in tight hug.

"Goodbye, Dylan. I'm going to miss you terribly."

Dylan's eyes had gone misty but he hugged Alek back strongly. "Oh aye, me too. And I'm serious about you writing me. I don't want you disappearing into that huge empire of yours."

"I won't, disappear that is. I will write to you though, I promise."

There was a yell from the American fleet and Dylan gave one last pat on the back before Alek had to jump onto the smaller ship. He didn't pause to talk to the new crew and instead rushed to a window where he could watch his friend and the _Leviathan _disappear along the horizon. Dylan waved from the whale's gondola until Alek could no longer make out his figure.

_I'll see him again. _ Alek thought. _I'll make sure of it!_


	18. Long Time Gone pt 2

** 1918**

**Prague**

**...**

"Beg your pardon, your majesty, but you have a telegram."

Alek looked up from his coffee and newspaper to greet the man at his office door. The servant looked terribly disgruntled probably because he was closely followed by Count Volger who was glaring at him evilly.

"Thank you, Brunhilde." Alek praised the young servant. "If you'd be so kind to leave it with me it'd be much appreciated."

The man dropped the formal scrap of paper and bolted out of the office as soon as he could. Alek frowned as he left.

"Why do you have to be so cruel to the new staff?" Alek questioned his old fencing instructor. "That poor boy has only been here a week and you follow him around everywhere and comment on everything he does."

"He's no boy." Volger sniffed. "That louse has almost five years on you. When I was his age I could command a three hundred man cavalry let alone deliver a telegram."

"He's from…."

"I know where he's from, sire. That's why I have to keep tabs on him so closely."

Alek sighed. Last week he had hired twenty men from the inner city as personal servants in his household. Brunhilde was the youngest and the others ranged all the way into their sixties. It had been one of his many attempts to bring employment to the fast growing lower class of Prague. All of the men had been miners or factory workers before Alek had met them. With the industry crashing thousands of people were unable to find work in the city. Even so, it had been excruciatingly difficult to employ servants at his palace; a tender subject that Volger seemed ever so strongly to bring up.

"He and his kind don't deserve to correspond with you." The wildcount continued. "And if you were looking closer you could see that they know this as well as I do. They are not appreciating your handouts and I for one cannot blame them."

"They need the money! Even you cannot deny that."

"Money is one thing but honor is another. My family has been serving the Empire since….."

"….since the middle ages, I know Volger. But not every servant has to come from a lineage such as yours. I'm not taking away your position so I can replace it with Brunhilde's. You are still here, are you not? Adding more servants isn't going to diminish your honor."

Volger snorted. "Adding twenty servants isn't going to feed the rest of the starving population."

Even for Volger that had been too brash of a statement. Alek had, of course, tried to employ more than twenty men but with the little love his people had for their royalty, it had been horribly difficult just to get that many.

"That's enough out of you! Get out of my sight! I have a telegram I need to read." He snapped.

But Volger wasn't done. "Read the newspaper more carefully before you read your telegram, sire. The people may never appreciate their emperors no matter how many jobs you give them."

Alek would have shouted at him more but Volger was gone before he had a chance. As always the newspapers had been grim. But the headlines today were especially terrifying.

**RUSSIAN EMPEROR SLAUGHTERED IN COLD BLOOD! ENTIRE FAMILY MASSACRED! **

Alek threw the paper across the room. The rebellion in Russia was a little too close to his own family history for comfort.

A tiny squeak emerged from where he had tossed the paper. Alek noticed that in his frustration he had ruffled up a mound of pillows and furs with his throw. Out of the plush pile a chubby loris escaped the mess and jumped onto Alek's desk to sniff his now room temperature cup of coffee.

"Telegram." The loris chirped.

Alek gave Bovril a tiny grin and finally was able to focus on the telegram.

_Aleksander –stop- _

_I'm happy to report that the fab has been completed –stop-_

_Why haven't you picked Sharp for copilot –stop-_

_He is my best assistant-stop-_

_Please visit soon –stop-_

_Dr. Nora Darwin Barlow-stop-_

Alek read the note at least twice more.

_Sharp? _He thought in confusion. _Dylan is Dr. Barlow's assistant!?_

That was more than surprising, it was astonishing. He hadn't heard from Dylan since the end of the war. His best friend had sworn that they would keep in touch but after a few detailed letters the boy had randomly stopped writing. At first Alek had thought it was a mistake but after several weeks of writing and not getting a response he had begun to worry. Dylan's last letter had included a photograph of the young soldier in an elegant airman's uniform being fitted with a brand new shiny medal and pilot's cap. Alek remembered the picture clearly as well as the letter that came with it.

_Blisters, Alek you should have been there today! It was all pompous and aristocratic like one of your royal balls or something! I passed my pilot's test with ease and now they've decorated me as one of their commanding pilots for His Majesty's Airforce! Barking Spiders I think this is the best day of my life! Don't be upset if you don't get any letters for awhile! Your airman will be taking to the skies so we can finally put an end to this bumrag of a war. Hope I hear from you soon!_

Dylan's scratchy handwriting as well as the photograph were now buried somewhere deep in Alek's dresser drawers. He had long come to the conclusion that the boy had perished in one of the last air fights of the war. There had been no other explanation as to why Dylan would have stopped writing to him. That and Alek had never been able to find the young pilot's name in any of the military directories he had acquired from the Darwinists. He had spent hours searching for Dylan, even in the lists of young Darwinist soldiers who had not made it home after the war. Yet there had never been any way to find his old friend. In mourning Alek had hidden Dylan's letters and photos so he no longer had to remember his good friend he had met on the _Leviathan. _

Yet here on plain paper was proof that his old friend was still alive. And of all places the boy had taken residence with Dr. Barlow and her Zoological Society.

Had Dylan been helping build the fabrication he had required of Dr. Barlow? Surely that couldn't be possible. Otherwise Alek would have heard something from Dylan. This fabrication was not like other godless creatures that the Darwinists were breeding in herds. This was the fabrication that would save his starving people and possibly his crown.

After the Darwinists had won the war, Britain and America had become the leaders of industry and development. Marvelous beasties were springing up out of practically nothing and millions of people were profiting from their growth.

The Clanker Nations were not nearly as lucky. The war had used up all of their resources and now the mines and factories were empty, unable to employ the millions of laborers that had been so prosperous before the war had started. Walkers and engines can't be created if you don't have the coal and steel to make them.

On top of that, the Treaty of Versailles had taken away any last amount of wealth that his empire had. Furious that the Clankers had attacked, the Darwinist Nations had enforced horrible fines and expenses that needed to be paid in order to supplement the millions of young men that had been lost. Plus, they could no longer build their militaries in fear that the Clankers would attack again.

Alek had been bitter about it but not nearly as upset as some of his cohorts. As angry as he was with the Darwinists and their growing success, he wasn't like Volger and some of his fellow Austrians who demanded that their only option was to join the Clanker Nations again to start another war. No matter how poor his people had become Alek could never find the inspiration to start another gruesome world war. Instead he had plotted to ask the Darwinists for help. His correspondences with Dr. Barlow had been just that.

Alek scratched Bovril behind the ears.

"What would you say about seeing Dylan again, Bovril?"

"_MR. _SHARP!" Bovril exclaimed with delight.

Alek gave the biggest smile he had been able to muster in weeks.

"I suppose I should tell Brunhilde to pack up our things. Can't keep Dr. Barlow waiting." He said.


	19. Long Time Gone pt 3

**Meanwhile, in London**

**...**

The newspaper headline nearly took up the entire front page. The black typeface was a daunting gothic print that was bold and brash in its full capital letters.

**ROMANOFF DYNASTY ENDED IN RUSSIA: BLOODY CIVIL WAR CONTINUES. MILLIONS PRESUMED DEAD.**

Deryn sighed and pushed the paper away. She didn't feel compelled to read any more about the brutal assassination of Czar Nicholas II and his young family. Nor did she want to know any more of the thousands of people being slaughtered for what she considered a foolish reason.

_So much for the war to end all wars. _ She thought. Not for the first time she wondered if The Great War she had participated in had been nothing but a gigantic, deadly and miserable waste of time. Thinking about war was something she did a lot lately and, as Dr. Barlow had pointed out, it was quite normal for a war veteran to think about.

_I'm a war veteran. _ She thought gloomily. She was also a decorated soldier, a commanding pilot of The Royal Air Force and an assistant for the Zoological Society, but it sounded a lot worse when she thought of herself as a war veteran.

Annoyed, Deryn stood up from her desk. She couldn't let a war half a world away ruin her day. There were a lot of important things to do and she didn't have time to waste pondering about Russia.

So she went back to her job, which much to do with war seeing that she helped fabricate battle beasties, and continued making her morning rounds about the laboratory.

The eggs were all doing fine in their incubators. She marked down the temperatures and recorded that a few had started to crack. The microscopes were all lined up as they should be and all her bacteria specimens were put away on their shelves. Lastly, she went to check on the aquarium to see if her new amphibious fabrications were ready to eat their breakfasts. She was halfway through separating the rations of mealworms when there was a soft knock on the laboratory door.

It was rare for someone to take the time to knock. Curious, Deryn walked over to answer the door and was greeted by a faceful of white fluffy fur. It took her half a second to discover that her face had been engulfed by a small creature.

"_Mr. _Sharp!" Exclaimed the little creature. It then giggled uncontrollably as Deryn tried to wrench it off of her head.

"….Bovril?" She stated with confusion. "Blisters, I haven't seen you in ages! You're supposed to be in Prague with Alek." After freeing the beastie from her face she gave it a strong hug. There was a sound from the door of someone clearing their throat and Deryn put together that it would be very strange for Bovril to turn up at her laboratory door by itself. Her nerves started firing as she realized who must have brought Bovril here from Austria-Hungary.

"Good morning, Dylan." Came a horribly familiar voice. Standing before the threshold of her lab was none other than Aleksander von Hohenberg, his Serene Highness and Emperor of Austria-Hungary. Deryn gave a loud gulp. She should have expected him to be there along with the loris but it still was a nasty shock.

"Do you mind if I come in?" He asked politely after she didn't say anything for several moments. Deryn made the effort to nod and stand aside so the Emperor could walk into the room.

For the most part Alek hadn't changed a squick since she last saw him. He was maybe a tad taller but still shorter than her and his shoulders had filled out, but either than that he still had the same physical presence. Her own appearance was much different than when she had last seen Alek. She recalled that their parting had been rushed yet heartfelt.

"_You'll have time to write me, won't you? Not going to be too busy being a barking emperor I hope?" She smiled as she tossed his small suitcase onto the tiny aircraft. _

"_I'll make the time, Dylan, I promise! However, as future emperor I have every right to command you to respond to my letters with effortless speed." Alek said, a grin spreading on his face. It helped him keep away the tears that were threatening to fall._

_Deryn snorted. "Aye, your majesty. And you better come visit me soon. God knows that Glasgow needs some more Clanker emperors around." _

_They both laughed then. It was an awkwardly quiet laugh for them. Neither would look at the other due to their approaching separation. Alek decided he was fed up with the stale goodbye and closed the space between them by leaping at Deryn and surrounding her in tight hug. _

"_Goodbye, Dylan. I'm going to miss you terribly."_

_Deryn's eyes had gone misty but she hugged Alek back strongly. "Oh, aye, me too. And I'm serious about you writing me. I don't want you disappearing into that huge empire of yours."_

"_I won't, disappear that is. I will write to you though, I promise."_

Deryn had been a tall skinny lad in Alek's mind. That no longer was the case. Her body had not allowed her to keep her hidden identity so Dylan had become Deryn after a few months in the Zoological Society. It had been a huge issue at the time but the boffins got over it rather quickly. It wasn't like she had been the first girl to hide her sex in order to increase her standing.

However, Deryn decided that it would be best if Alek never found out her secret. He had written to her religiously after the war and she had been glad to respond. Their friendship had even seemed stronger than before as she gave what advice she could through letters to young emperor. He had needed her friendship, she knew, and Deryn worried that if she told him the truth by letter he would hate her. He may have also wanted more than a pen pal if he discovered that his best friend was female. An emperor could never court a common Scottish lass who worked at the London Zoo.

It had been hard, but Deryn had decided it was best to stop writing to Alek. Instead of coming up with a bumrag excuse as to why she couldn't write, she just stopped altogether. Alek had continued to write, of course, but slowly he had given up after several months. It broke her heart but she had forced their friendship to grow apart.

Never had she expected him to show up at her door years later. And by the way he was looking at her he hadn't expected her to look the way she did when he showed up at her door.

"You…..um…..I beg your pardon, but you…"

"Ma calls it 'filling out a bit'." Deryn laughed. Her mother had been delighted that her daughter had finally acquired curves. True, Deryn would never be called voluptuous, but she no longer could get away with wearing men's clothes. She still wore pants and pilot's boots but that was only because they were much easier to work in than a skirt. Her hair was kept short but she had given in to some simple hoops in her ears and a woman's blouse. While working in her lab the warm temperatures allowed for her to wear a rather tight blouse that she had unbuttoned a squick at the top. She realized immediately that Alek was gaping at her bare neck and upper chest so she quickly tossed Bovril on the desk and replaced the creature with her jacket.

"Sorry, your highness, I suppose it isn't very funny. I guess I should explain."

Alek bit his lip and frowned. "Some explaining would be appreciated." He said solemnly.

Deryn didn't know where to start. Thankfully Alek didn't look too angry, just really barking confused. She couldn't blame him. What could be more of a shock than finding out your old war buddy was a girl?

"Um…Well, you remember my Da died about two years before the war?"

Alek nodded and took the initiative to sit down on one of the stools by the microscopes. It didn't appear he would be leaving without her explaining everything.

"I guess this all started after that. I never was much for wearing dresses and doing girly things, and I really wanted to fly. So Da used to take me up in his hot air balloons. After his accident, I wasn't allowed to fly anymore. It was really boring living with Ma and not being able to train for the air force like my brother. One day I just woke up and decided the heck with it, I would just become a boy and join the military like he did." She sighed, recalling how Jaspert had been so excited to help her with her plan. She wondered if he ever realized what he ended up putting her through.

"You know the rest of it." She continued to Alek. "With a squick of nasty luck I ended up as a middy onboard the _Leviathan. _The rest is history."

Alek narrowed his eyes. "And you never thought to tell me?" He asked.

She gulped. "I was going to!" She admitted. "But it never seemed like the right time. There was always something getting in the way. You were either trying to escape, or the Germans were attacking or Volger was threatening me. I didn't really have the chance."

"You had four years to tell me." He stated. "Why did you stop writing to me?"

Deryn could've started crying right then. But she stood tall and continued talking.

"You're the Emperor of bloody Austria, Alek! And I'm just some silly lass who pretended to be an airman. It wasn't a friendship that could continue!"

For the first time Deryn realized how hurt Alek looked by what she was saying. He wasn't completely looking at her and appeared to be focusing on the floor tiles so she couldn't see as clearly how red and splotchy his cheeks were getting.

"You really believe that would have mattered? You could have been a leper for all I cared, at least you were kind to me! Not many people were during that time, Dylan. It shocks me that you would think I'd care what gender you were."

Flabbergasted, Deryn gaped at him. "You would have hated me! You should hate me!"

"On the contrary, I would have been in awe of your bravery."

She snorted. "That's a load of clart! Look at you; you're practically crying you're so angry at me!"

He stood up and finally faced her eye to eye. "ANGRY? I'm not angry! I am a bit upset. You would be too if someone disappeared off the face of the planet for four years and then turned out to be alive and well the entire time! Do you know how hard I looked for you?"

She blinked. "You thought I was dead?"

Alek gave a loud frustrated groan that caused Bovril to jump off the desk and dash across the room. "What else would I have thought!? After the war more than half of the people I had grown up with had disappeared. I lost countless numbers of acquaintances and family members. As for friends, I never had any. Now imagine what it would be like if your only friend was a soldier who stopped writing to you before the war had completely ended!"

Deryn had never looked at it that way. Glasgow had lost hundreds of boys to the war. Many of whom had been classmates of hers. Still, she hadn't lost any family or close friends as Alek had. It had never occurred to her that refusing to answer Alek's letters would cause such a commotion. Plus, if he had tried to look for her it would have been impossible to hunt her down. There was no such thing as Dylan Sharp.

"I'm….I'm sorry. I had no idea." She said, ashamed.

He took a deep breath and sighed. "It's alright. I didn't mean to scream at you. Probably not the best way to greet someone you haven't seen in years." He laughed a little and wiped a wandering tear from his face. "It's just that it's been so long, and to randomly discover that you were alive, well, it's a little more than a bit emotional for me."

There was a pause as she shuffled her feet. It wasn't every day that a young handsome man told her she had made him emotional. In fact it never happened. Deryn had had her fair share of boyfriends but never anything serious. Truthfully she had always wondered if Alek would show up in her life again. Before today she had considered it ridiculous but now….

"Well…besides that, how have you been?" She said, trying to change the subject.

He smiled at her. "All things aside I suppose I'm doing alright. That said I didn't come here just to talk to you. I actually have been in correspondence with Dr. Barlow. I've commissioned her to build a ship for me."

That surprised her. If Dr. Barlow had been asked to create a Darwinist ship for Alek, surely the boffin would have told her most trusted assistant?

Alek opened a briefcase she hadn't seen before to show her a pile of blueprints and sketches all in Dr. Barlow's handwriting. He carefully unwrapped them and showed Deryn the plans of an immense beastie that was larger than anything she had worked on before.

"What the hell?" She snatched a blueprint out of his hand. "Is this an airship? You're having Dr. Barlow create you a Darwinist airship?!"

He shook his head with a grin. "Not an airship, but a walker. See the legs? They're folded up in this diagram. It's basically a Darwinist creature with Clanker controls."

She noticed the piloting room of the beastie and how it contained levers and pedals exactly as she remembered the stormwalkers Alek had piloted in the past. Only these levers were made out of tendons and bone, not iron or steel.

"Blisters…."

"It's called the _Draufganger_. Dr. Barlow calls it the fabrication made for the Clanker Nations!"

He was absolutely thrilled with the thing. Before she could say 'beastie' he was busy unrolling all the papers and showing her every detail that made the creature tick. It was quite a contraption but Deryn couldn't understand why Alek would want such a thing.

"You're making fabrications now? Why?"

"You won't believe me but the _Draufganger_ is a miracle in the process. It is going to save my Empire. It will take me a while to explain, but we should have plenty of time for that. The fabrication is already assembled and ready. All we need to do now is get it to Austria. You will be coming with me of course."

"Umm, excuse me? Coming with you?"

Alek nodded. "It was Dr. Barlow's idea. She's the reason I found you after so long. Although I find it strange that she never mentioned you were a girl. Anyways, I need a copilot to navigate the _Draufganger_ across the English Channel and through France and Germany. You're the most capable pilot the Zoological Society has to offer. That and you have experience piloting walkers from before."

It was as if he and Dr. Barlow had been planning this for months. She should have been horrified of their secret plotting but on the contrary, Deryn couldn't think of anything she would rather be doing.

"I haven't piloted anything in ages." She admitted. "Seriously, I haven't been anywhere besides my house and this lab in weeks! I'd be honored to come with you but I don't think I'm your best choice."

"Nonsense, you'd be perfect! I can't imagine it any other way. I can't think of another person who would be more fitting for the position." With that he started putting away his papers. "Now hurry and pack your things. I'm afraid we don't have time to dawdle over this. I expect you to be ready for departure first thing tomorrow morning."

"I….I guess…"

"Not another word, Dylan. I have already agreed that you will be joining me."

She swallowed. "It's Deryn actually."

"Oh." He said, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. "Deryn, right. That will take some getting used to. Well, I should start preparing for the trip." He made for the door before turning around to look for Bovril. The loris had been watching them from the desk. When it noticed that Alek was starting to leave, Bovril leapt onto Deryn's shoulder and dug its claws so tightly into her jacket that she could feel the prickles of them through the fabric.

"Looks like Bovril missed me." She laughed. Alek paced over and they both tried to dislodge the loris from Deryn's shoulder. When it appeared that Bovril would not be letting go, Alek gave up with a small sigh. Then out of nowhere he pulled Deryn into a tight hug.

"I've missed you too." He said softly.

Deryn didn't get a chance to react because a second later Alek had left. Bovril remained on her shoulder slightly humming with happiness. She shushed the creature quickly before she started humming herself.

_Blisters_, she thought as she shivered from the hug. _What in the hell have I gotten myself into?_


	20. Long TIme Gone pt 4

As soon as they were in the walker it was as if Deryn and Alek had never been separated. He treated her as if she were still a boy, and for that Deryn was thankful. The last thing she needed was a clump of awkwardness between them while they were stuck together in a walker for the next few weeks. Between the two of them they would take turns piloting as they neared the capital of Alek's empire. Of course that meant that Deryn had to learn how to pilot a walker which turned out to be much more difficult than she first realized.

Beasties were natural creatures that only needed hints and a bit of airsense to steer them in the correct direction. The contraption Alek had designed may have been made from lifethreads but it was all Clanker engineering underneath. Every movement had to be skillfully plotted out by her feet or arms and she couldn't let her mind go for an instant otherwise the contraption would topple over.

"You're doing marvelously!" Alek shouted from her side. She could only snort at his words because talking would require too much distraction from piloting.

Most of it was just balancing; trying to figure out the pattern between her feet and arms as she steered the _Draufganger _ forward. The beastie-walker, as she liked to call it, was almost as large as the Turkish walkers Alek had piloted back in Istanbul. But unlike the _Minotaur _or the _Dauntless, _this walker was not built out of steel and hydraulics. Instead, Deryn's nostrils were filled with the familiar scents of the inside of a beastie. As Alek had asked, Dr. Barlow had created a creature that drove like a Clanker machine. The _Draufganger_ was one gigantic amoeba that had absolutely no thought process of its own. Instead the entire machine was hinged to Deryn's control. It may be common sense for a Clanker but to Deryn it was downright terrifying.

They had barely made it out of the suburbs of London and Deryn was slowly trying to place one foot in front of the other. At first she had been ecstatic to pilot a new beastie yet after several miles she was really wishing she had never started. Just walking was hard enough. She couldn't fathom what it would be like to run with these controls.

Out of nowhere Deryn felt something trip up the left leg of the walker. Her stomach started to flip as she tried to catch her footing but the walker was falling fast. Thankfully Alek was right there to grasp the hand controls from her and somehow twist the arms around so they regained their balance.

"Why don't I take over for awhile?" He asked with a smile.

"PLEASE!" She gasped and quickly moved over so he could take her spot. Within a heartbeat Alek skillfully took control of the beastie and had them smoothly walking over the terrain with ease.

"It takes a little getting used to but once you understand the balance of the machine you'll never know why you thought it was difficult, like riding a bicycle."

"Speak for yourself." Deryn grumbled. Her hands ached from grabbing the controls so tightly and she could feel a migraine coming on, probably from clenching her jaw so much as she piloted.

Even while at the controls Alek was still able to turn around and face her every so often as he continued to talk. "Maybe you should lie down. You look exhausted."

Deryn gave him a nasty snarl. "I'm fine!"

That didn't seem to appease his worry. "That was a long run for your first time. I admit that I'm quite impressed. My first walk only lasted several minutes but you were able to keep going for at least an hour. I don't blame you if you're exhausted. If you like I could stop for a minute and pull out one of the cots for you. You can rest and I'll wake you when we reach the next town."

As sweet as that sounded Deryn wasn't going to let his chivalry convince her to sleep while he had to pilot a brand new walker by himself.

"I said I'm fine! I like my chair, thank you."

Alek grinned and continued to walk forward. "You may not realize it, but this is a dream to drive. My congratulations to Dr. Barlow, she has made an extraordinary machine."

"It's no machine." Deryn commented. "But I wouldn't call it a natural beastie either. I have to say, Alek, you've created something that completely stumps me."

What she said made him smile so much she worried he wouldn't be able to see straight.

"It's absolutely perfect!" He beamed. "Once the Austrian and German aristocrats see this thing they are going to thank me profusely! Dr. Barlow has created a miracle!"

"Really?" Deryn asked doubtfully. "How is this mixbreed a miracle?"

"My country is starving, Deryn. There is no work anymore now that the war is over. After the Clankers lost we had no way to replenish our resources that were completely devoured during the war. The mines are empty and the factories can't build stormwalkers when we don't have the supplies to do so. That and we have lost all of our funding. The last of my family's fortune was used to purchase this machine."

Deryn had no idea that the Clankers had been suffering but it did make sense now that she thought about it. She did recall that Alek had paid for the walker with some old jewels and a few historical paintings. They had probably belonged to his family's private collection. It made her sad to think of Alek's last remaining heritage being given up to the British government in return for a Darwinist war vessel.

"But the benefit is far worth the cost!" Alek gushed. "Darwinist walkers don't need steel and coal in order to operate. All they need is food, sunlight and water. And they can reproduce their own offspring! They're a reusable source of energy and profit! Our nations will be as wealthy as the Darwinists' once we start breeding beasties. And without the godless manipulation of an actual animal, my cohorts will flock to these natural machines! It's brilliant!"

Deryn swallowed slowly. She didn't want to upset Alek after he had just bubbled up his entire plan for saving his empire but what he was saying scared her. Yes it was a brilliant idea but she was doubtful that the Clankers would be excited to build giant amoeba walkers. If the _Draufganger _made her feel uneasy there was no way that the Austrians and the Germans would be comfortable around it.

"I don't know," she mumbled. "I wouldn't count your chickens."

Alek ignored her comment and steamrolled her with a completely different subject.

"Are you courting anyone, Deryn?"

…

"WHAT?"

"Well, I was just wondering. I suppose that isn't the polite thing to ask. I forget that I must keep the same manners around you that I must with any lady. My apologies."

As offended as she was that he didn't think of her as a lady, she supposed he had a right to know. Blisters, she was awful curious about his suitors, if he had any, and she dare not ask first.

"No, I'm not going with anyone. Much to my mother's dismay I have completely ruined my chances of getting a decent husband. Men don't flock to the girls who wear trousers and work as lab assistants, unfortunately."

"I see." He said matter-of-factly.

"What about you? Any young ladies in your life?" She asked with a grin. She meant it in a joking way but the comment made Alek frown.

"Ah yes. Something I am not looking forward to when we get home. There are far too many young ladies that I am supposed to meet. It's my responsibility to find the perfect bride but I haven't the heart to do so. Perhaps if these women actually seemed interested in the prospect maybe it would be better. The fact is that no duchess or princess wants to marry a broke emperor with a failing empire. However, Volger keeps finding them and asking them over to visit." He gave a smirk. "They're pleasant enough to look at but I can tell that none of them see me as more than a boy king on a dying throne. The people do not love me and any day I may be overthrown by a rebellion. What woman would want to marry a man that may threaten the safety of her future unborn children and her namesake."

Deryn didn't mean to bring up such a tender subject. Thoughts of the Russian Czar whose entire family had been slain in order to make way for a rebellion came to mind and she knew Alek was thinking the same.

"Sorry." She said quietly. Alek only shrugged and they continued for a few miles in silence as he steered the walker and she struggled to keep her eyes open while the contraption threatened to rock her to sleep with each step.

"DERYN!" He shouted.

Horrified, she stood immediately, scanning the horizon for any threats.

"I just had a fantastic idea!" He was beaming again with a blissful far off look. "What if _you_ were to marry me?!"

She gaped at him. Had he been drinking while she wasn't looking?

"BARKING SPIDERS!"

"I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but think about it. You're of common blood, yes?"

"I'm well aware of that, Alek. Thank you for pointing that out."

"But in this day and age that's actually a benefit! The people of Austria-Hungary would love you because you would relate to them. And in turn they would learn to appreciate me because I had the notion to take a commoner as my wife!" He was so overwhelmed by the idea that Alek pulled the walker to a stop so he could look Deryn fully in the face. Deryn took a second to sit back down and rub her now pounding migraine.

"But I'm a Darwinist." She tried to explain. "Your people aren't going to love me at all!"

He shook his head. "That's even more perfect! You can help me win them over to this machine."

"It's not a machine." She repeated again.

"SEE! You're already able to talk about it!"

"Blisters." She rubbed her aching skull again and closed her eyes for a moment. Was he actually proposing to her? Hadn't this always been a dream of hers? Marrying Alek would be wonderful, sure, but….

"Alek, I'm flattered, really. But I can't be an empress!"

"You'd do wonders over any of those other girls. They can talk elegantly and wear pretty dresses but none of them are half as smart as you are. I know I'd be able to keep a marriage with you far better than with any of them. I can actually hold a conversation with you and I consider you my friend! If I picked a noble lady I would have to marry a complete stranger."

_His friend. _Deryn thought bitterly. _I'm still just a friend to him. Even if I did marry him would he ever see me as more? _She supposed that royal marriages usually were held together with less but she still believed that Alek only saw her as Dylan, not Deryn. _Or in this case he sees me as another tactic to win his empire back. Like I'm another beastie-walker._

"You don't have to marry me tomorrow." Alek stated, obviously seeing Deryn's uncertainty. "Just promise me you'll think about it."

She sighed. "I suppose I can do that much."

"Excellent!"

And with that he ended the subject and was once again piloting as if they had never spoken of it.


	21. Long Time Gone pt 5

**I know, I know I haven't updated in forever! My super apologies. I had a lot of trouble putting my ideas into words. This chapter was going to be longer but because of writing block I couldn't continue it very far. I decided to just post what I had instead of letting it sit and rot in my files. **

* * *

><p>Alek hadn't been kidding when he said his people were suffering. As they pulled into Prague Deryn noticed the storefronts and cafes were torn down or boarded up. Streets that used to house wealthy homes were no longer rich establishments but run down living quarters for multiple families. She noted several filthy looking people eying Alek's walker suspiciously. Mothers with too many hungry children and men who had spent their last paychecks on liquor stood at crumbling staircases and broken fences. A few took the time to throw an empty bottle in the path of the walker, but most of the passerby just glared angrily at them.<p>

"This used to be a lovely neighborhood." Alek mumbled. "There was a park in the middle of the square where they used to hold a market every morning. That was back when each of these houses was owned by their original families. Now they've been abandoned or bought up by slum lords. Dozens of people will live in one room of a town house that used to house five or six in an entire building."

He didn't need to explain that living arrangements were horrible. Deryn could tell that these homes no longer had heat or proper sewer systems by the way the people looked. They were wearing far too many layers of dingy looking clothing and none of them appeared to have bathed in months. The majority were women and children. Most of the young men had been lost to the war. Seeing their sad faces made Deryn feel ill. The long journey had given her a sour stomach and miserable migraines. Now with this crumbling city she wouldn't receive any relief upon their arrival.

Neither of them spoke until Alek stopped the walker in front of a gigantic cathedral. It was nearly two hundred feet tall with a clock tower, buttresses and large stained glass windows.

"This is the Prague Castle." Alek explained.

"Blisters!" Deryn gaped.

"It was built in the ninth century and contains a monastery, gardens, nearly fifty bedrooms, three grand staircases and two ballrooms." He stated this information like a half asleep tour guide. Clearly the palace was not too appealing to him.

"Is this where you grew up?" Deryn asked.

He shook his head. "This is my Grand Uncle's Palace. I grew up in Konopiste which is a castle outside of the city. It's fairly ornate but not nearly as grand as this one." He almost looked disdainful at the Prague Castle. She couldn't blame him; living in a palace this large in the middle of a dying city was quite a feat.

They exited the walker and Deryn followed Alek to the doorway where there was a butler to greet them. The man bowed deeply and Alek nodded to him.

"Deryn, this is Matthias Brunhilde, he's one of the servants here."

Matthias said something in German and insisted on taking Deryn's jacket. A woman appeared once the door was opened and Alek instructed her to take Deryn to her room.

"I need to wash up and get ready for supper." Alek stated. "I suggest you do the same. I'm certain that Volger has scrounged up some important guests for us to dine with so make sure you dress decently." He gave her a mocking grin. "I do hope you aren't terribly opposed to wearing a dress."

Deryn frowned at him. "Since when do you care what I'm wearing?"

"I don't. I just wanted to warn you that the company I keep may judge you more than you are accustomed to."

Thankfully he didn't push the subject more and instead bid her farewell and left her in the care of the female servant. The woman was a plump older lady named Amalia who didn't talk much. She rushed Deryn to her bedroom in silence and left her there with some towels and a pitcher of fresh water.

The room was extravagant, as was most of the building yet with a careful eye one could tell that the details of the bedroom weren't as perfect as they could be. The enormous double bed was covered in a dusty silk coverlet. She noted that the edges were frayed and holes had formed along the creases. The windows of the room were cracked and the curtains were missing. At one time there had been a painting on the wall but it was now just a faded rectangle within the wallpaper. There was a very fancy dresser for her to store her clothes. It was probably several centuries old and she marveled at the carved bronze drawer handles. But even this lovely piece was worn on the edges with chipped paint. It matched the bedside tables and lamps with more bronze trim. It was all very expensively made furniture; it just seemed that they were unable to keep it up.

There was a knock on the door and Deryn saw Amalia's plump face peering in at her. She said something softly in German and showed her a gown she had been holding. Obviously the woman was here to help Deryn change.

"Ummm….that's alright." She motioned for the woman to leave. "I don't need it. I brought my own dress."

It was true; she had brought her own dress. Dr. Barlow had forced her to buy some 'proper attire' once Deryn started working for her. There were several times during her position at the Zoological Society that required her to look her best and that meant she had to look like a lady. It wasn't anything terribly outrageous. She had picked the style herself. It was merely a simple black gown with a cinched in waist and a scoop neck. There were some embroidered beads on the shoulder straps that made it sparkle a bit. Deryn was starting to appreciate the more modern dresses that were coming out of France. Women no longer had to wear long sleeves and constricting corsets. And with her more proportionate figure maybe Alek wouldn't treat her like a boy all the time.

By the time dinner rolled around there was a knock at her door. Expecting Amalia, Deryn was shocked to be greeted by none other than Count Volger.

"I daresay, you look much nicer than I would have expected." He smirked. It wasn't exactly a compliment but Deryn took it in stride.

"Thankyou, Volger. It's been a long time."

"It has." Out of nowhere he took her arm and began leading her down the hall. "I trust that you are doing well, Miss Sharp. I won't be the first to say that I am rather surprised that His Majesty has brought you to his home."

"As am I." Deryn replied, choosing her words carefully. "Yet I appreciate your attention. I didn't think you would be taking me to dinner."

"It is my pleasure, my dear, however," he pulled her toward the top of a grand staircase which they began to descend and continued in a hushed voice, "don't be fooled by my gestures, Miss Sharp, it is in every ounce of my being to see you away from here and out of Aleksander's presence."

As much as she would have loved to snap back at him, she couldn't utter a word. They had now descended to the bottom of the stairs where a cluster of people had gathered. Alek stood at the foot of the staircase dressed in an elegant military suit which was embellished with dozens of medals and tassels. His eyes flickered warningly to Volger before he snatched Deryn's arm away from the wildcount.

"I thought I made it clear that _I _would be retrieving Miss Sharp from her quarters." He said with dripping anger.

"Did you, sire? I'm afraid I don't recall you saying so. My apologies, I merely wanted to save you the hassle of conversing with commoners."

Alek didn't allow him to say anything else before pulling Deryn to the other side of the room.

"I see that Volger hasn't changed at all." Deryn commented. Alek nodded and handed her a flute of champagne that one of the servants had been carrying on a silver tray.

"Do me a favor and stay away from him." He whispered. Two women in frilly pink dresses approached him. They motioned to Deryn and said something in German that sounded like a question. Alek followed with a quick response and the two walked away while giving Deryn a couple of odd expressions.

"Nothing to worry yourself about." He mentioned as they left. "They were just wondering who you were."

Deryn frowned. "What did you tell them?"

"Only that you are an old friend of mine. Shall I escort you to the dining room?"


	22. Long Time Gone pt 6

If Alek's household was struggling to get by they sure had an odd way of showing it. Dinner was a five course meal including drinks and hors d'oeuvres. True, they weren't snacking on snails and lobster tail, but the kitchen didn't scrimp on presentation. Her main course was pasta with a garlic cream sauce and asparagus. They also gave her a colorful salad with something that looked like yellow cucumbers in it. It smelled amazing but Deryn barely touched her food.

"We haven't been able to purchase as much meat and fish as we used to." Alek pointed out. "However, I find the vegetable entrees to be quite exceptional."

Deryn nodded and was able to nibble a bit on a stalk of asparagus. Her tummy quivered a bit as she swallowed it. She put her fork down with a strong clank and picked up her champagne instead. It was far too sweet and she almost gagged on it. Alek was busy chattering away with one of the important looking dinner guests; a man wearing an awful necktie that was made out of multiple copper tiles and moved like a metal fish whenever he talked. He sat across from Alek while his daughter, whom Deryn believed was wearing the pinkest excuse for a dress she had ever seen, was sitting on Alek's right. The three of them were talking quickly in Clanker but she could get the gist of their conversation. It had something to do with machines.

There was a break in their words as the servant came by to refill their drinks.

"I could kill for a glass of whisky." She mentioned, perhaps a little louder than she should. "Miss Pinky Toes here may be able to handle this bubbly sweet stuff, but I'm more accustomed to real things." Alek gave her a surprised glance but thankfully the others didn't understand her English.

"I'll see what I can do about it." Alek mumbled. "Just try to look a bit more cheerful. The others are starting to wonder if something is wrong."

Deryn scoffed. "Nothing's wrong, your highness. Just enjoying my dinner."

She said it with dripping sarcasm but Alek didn't pick up on it. Instead he continued talking to the girl on his right. She couldn't be much older than sixteen with strawberry orange hair and two little beauty marks on her left cheek. Deryn may have hated the girl's dress but even she couldn't find insult for her pretty looks. It made her want to kick something. Preferably that something would be Alek's leg.

She couldn't though because on her other side sat the pink girl's mother. The lady looked just like her daughter but just a squick grayer. She didn't say a word to Deryn and only nibbled on her salad in silence. It was a dreadfully quiet dinner and Deryn thought she may cry from boredom when thankfully the servant came back with her glass of whisky. She thanked him and almost gulped half the thing down but stopped when she noticed the look Pinky's ma was giving her. The woman gasped like she had seen Deryn drinking poison instead of a glass of scotch.

"Be careful. I've heard your face can get stuck like that if you hold it too long." Deryn said sweetly. "However, it does improve your appearance greatly. At least now your skin slightly matches your outfit."

This time Alek almost knocked his chair over so he could turn to face her.

"Deryn!" He snapped at her in a loud whisper. "I don't know why you are being so rude, but you cannot say such things!"

She rolled her eyes. "Not that it matters. They can't understand me anyways."

"Yes, but I can!" He pushed his plate away and began to stand up.

"Where are you going, sire? Is the British girl bothering you?" The younger of the two women said. She smiled daintily in Deryn's direction before taking a small sip of her drink.

Alek blinked. "You can….."

"I learned English from my governess over seven years ago. Please sit back down."

Deryn swallowed the rest of her whisky while Alek fumbled with what to say next.

"I apologize for my friend's behavior. Deryn isn't usually this forward."

"Your _friend_?" The girl raised her eyebrows at Deryn. "I would have guessed she was your relative. Unless you often keep young girls at your house without a chaperone."

"Why you little….!" Deryn began to snap but Alek hushed her with an outstretched hand in her direction.

"Now, Deryn, Miss Kilsyka is asking a legitimate question. In many formal situations a young woman such as yourself would not be allowed to travel alone. Especially with a man she wasn't related to."

"So the two of you have been traveling together? Strange, I've never heard of that occurring unless the girl happened to be your mistress. Of course that wouldn't _possibly _be the case." Her pretty smile upturned even more and Alek began festering with his jacket and adjusting his silverware. The other guests were starting to notice something was the matter and a hush had settled over the table. Deryn wanted to run but she was practically nailed to her chair, perplexed as to what Alek would do.

He quickly regained his composure, smiled regally and raised his voice so everyone could hear him make a boastful speech in German. Most of it went over Deryn's head but within the speech he clearly introduced her to the table, softly touching Deryn's shoulder as he described her to the others. Afterwards, the richly dressed dinner guests applauded and nodded to Deryn with grateful expressions.

Confused, she glanced angrily at Alek.

"What did you tell them?!" She grumbled.

"Only that you are an old friend from the war and that you are assisting me in regaining the growth of our kingdom's economy."

"Blisters. How the hell am I doing that?"

He grinned. "By creating a new breed of stormwalker, of course!"

With another glass of scotch and a few angry curse words, Deryn was strapped into the observation seat of the _Draufganger. _Her feet dangled below her, one foot on each of Alek's shoulders. Before her was a 105 millimeter cannon equipped with 14 pound shells for her to manage. On her command, Alek would pull a lever to fire the shells into a gigantic concrete wall on the other side of the courtyard they were positioned in.

"So this is what Clankers consider good after dinner entertainment."

"It's nothing, Deryn. We'll just fire a few cannon balls and walk around the yard. All we need is to impress them, which shouldn't be difficult."

She sighed. "And you're certain this thing only fires blanks."

"Positive."

"But won't the sparks cause…."

"As I've told you before, the sparks are insignificant. Dr. Barlow made certain that this design is not flammable. You have nothing to be afraid of."

"And that makes me feel so much better." She grumbled. "Alright, you ninny, I'm preparing the gun."

Although it was something she had never imagined doing, Deryn loaded the gunpowder and the shell with ease. Alek positioned the lever and she instructed him where to aim.

"About ten feet higher, I mean, three meters. Aye, that's perfect! Fire!

The entire machine kicked back as the shell launched from the cannon into the air. Like a giant firework, the shot exploded into a burst of flame which made the entire yard appear lit with noonday sun.

There was a cry of joy from the crowd of dinner guests who were all lined up against a rail several yards back from the _Draufganger. _Alek cheered as well, swerved the walker around and began running it in circles around the field.

They had never made the clanker beastie run this fast before. Its mighty lungs were gasping, pumping oxygen through a set of giant nostrils above Deryn's head. She could feel the skin of the beast grow warmer beneath her seat and the gigantic paws that were the creature's feet scattered clouds of dust around them so thick that she couldn't see the ground before them.

Finally, Alek pulled the creature to a stop before the crowd. They were now silent as he and Deryn exited the walker and joined them on the railed balcony.

Alek called to them joyfully, but the dinner guests were no longer cheering in reply. Deryn didn't need to understand German in order to see their terrified and disgusted faces. Before them was a walker like no other; a Darwinist creature that breathed air and blew out fire balls from its mouth. It had fur covered paws and delicate tissues and glands. Yet it had no eyes, nor a brain, so it could be controlled like any pistons or engine could be. It was no wonder they were afraid of it.

When the first of the guests spoke, it was none other than the pink girl's father. The man didn't say anything cruel or even a bit upsetting. Instead, he patted Alek on the back and appeared to be congratulating him. It took a few moments, but the others began to follow. Their kind words didn't seem exactly sincere, since they continued to eye the walker with uneasy looks, but they seemed to honestly appreciate Alek's attempt. Deryn was flabbergasted.

"Didn't expect them to take to it so quickly, did we?" Someone mumbled to her. Count Volger had mysteriously appeared beside her. He frowned deeply at the crowd now surrounding Alek and shook his head.

"Ummm, are you really asking my opinion?" She managed to glare at him.

"I was skeptical of it too, but apparently I was wrong." Volger stated. "They seem interested in it. I suppose it has much to do with the guns. This crowd has a special love for explosives." Surprisingly he started pointing out some of the guests to her and explaining who they were, as if he was suddenly a friend introducing her to his old acquaintances. "The gentleman over there, with the atrocious excuse for a neck tie; that's Karl Kilsyka, the wealthiest man I have ever met. Do you know who he is, Miss Sharp?"

"How would I?"

"He's not a duke or a lord, not even a scholar. He's just a plain simple craftsman. A gunsmith, nonetheless. And would you believe that he happened to make a fortune during the last war. He was the first to come up with an automatic assault rifle. Made millions by causing the death of millions." Count Volger paused to take a sigh

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that it looks like our Aleksandar has found his way into weapon manufacturing. Seems that his plan is to regain the empire by building more death machines." He pointed to the _Draufganger. _"And it also seems that you are here to assist him in this manner."

"That's a load of clart if I ever smelled it! Alek would never….!"

"Oh, but it seems he already has." Count Volger gestured to where Alek was having a long conversation with the girl in pink. "He has his eye on the gunsmith's daughter. Now that would be quite clever to marry into the family business. That way he gets the weapons with less hassle, I would imagine. He may end up starting another war, perhaps another great war. Yet there is always money in wars. Plenty of jobs to go around. You would agree, Ms. Sharp." He smiled at her. "Heavens, you don't look well. I didn't say something to upset you, did I?"

Deryn didn't have the energy or the stomach to stay and chat with Volger. Before she started puking up her small dinner, she started back inside. On her way she passed the crowd who were still chattering away on the balcony.

"Deryn!" Alek called to her. "Deryn, where are you going? We've decided to have dessert outside. Won't you…"

She didn't hear the rest of what he said. She was too busy hearing her own sobs through her head as she dashed back into the palace.


End file.
